A New Chapter
by Twisties
Summary: Maureen and Joanne 17 years later...they've adopted 4 year old twins and are now looking to have a child of their own. First Fanfic, hope you like it!
1. Meet the Twins

**A New Chapter**

**Chapter 1: The Girls**

"Momma, Momma, wake up! It's Saturday, we gotta go shopping!" Jaylyn Jefferson-Johnson was determined to wake up her momma Joanne, but Joanne wasn't having any of it.

"Honeybear, make her go away…" she groaned to her wife and lover Maureen. For once in her life, the lawyer just wanted to sleep in!

"Pookie, you're always the one who's up and ready for life. Go on…she's _your_ daughter," the diva replied. Joanne threw a pillow on Maureen's head and got up.

"Momma's coming Jaylyn, but first go wake up mommy! She's dying to see you!" Joanne laughed at the irony as she went to go pour herself a cup of coffee; she heard Jaylyn waking up the diva with screams of _Mommy, Mommy!!_ Who would have ever thought it?

After pouring herself a fresh cup of Joe, Joanne went into the twins' room and looked around. She knew right away, that shopping needed to be the last thing on the minds of these little girls.

"Jaylyn, where is Jessica?" the lawyer asked her daughter. Jaylyn looked up from her newest task of watching Dora the Explorer.

"She's with Mommy using the potty I think. How come you wanna know Momma?"

"Because Momma thought that she asked you and your sister to clean this room before you went to sleep last night." The lawyer raised an eyebrow at her young daughter hoping to get the truth out of her. Jaylyn and Jessica were smart girls, she wondered why they hadn't followed her directions.

"Well, you see, _Mommy_ told us we didn't have to do it 'cause us…ummm… just didn't have to do it." Jaylyn wanted so badly to be a lawyer, but sometimes her little arguments needed some work.

"Really? 'Mommy said' that you didn't have to clean? You better not be lyin' to me missy."

Just then Jessica and Maureen came out of the girls' bathroom together. "Hi Momma," Jessica said sleepily.

"Hey sweetie!!" Joanne said as she picked up the more tired twin.

"Momma, I went to the potty all by myself!"

"Good girl, I'm really—"

"It was soooo hard but I did it and I washed my hands too!"

"—proud of you, love." Joanne shook her head as she realized just how entertaining it would be to have to deal with two Maureen's now.

"Maureen did you tell the girls that they didn't have to clean their room?" The diva shook her head.

"No pookie, it was really messy!" Jaylyn and Jessica quickly and stealthily sneaked into the living room to watch TV once again.

"Well then it seems our little lawyer in training has some work to do on her lying, hmmm? Jaylyn Michaela Jefferson-Johnson, and Jessica Madison Jefferson Johnson!!"

"Yes ma'am?" the two replied in unison.

"Go clean that room, _now_" the girls knew not to make a fuss, when momma used her lawyer voice that was NOT a good thing.

The two girls ran quickly into their room to clean it; partially to avoid the frightening stares of their parents, and partially because Joanne 'encouraged' them with swift swats to their rears.

Just as the girls got into their rooms Maureen called Jaylyn back out. "Jaylyn, why did you tell momma that mommy said you didn't have to clean your room?"

The girls shifted back and fourth on both legs, "I dunno mommy, maybe its 'cause you're always just the first person on my mind."

"Aww thanks baby…"

With the way the two women let these girls get away with things, she could just tell _today _would be a long, long day.


	2. A Big Decision

**Disclaimer: I sadly don't own any of the characters from RENT but I do own Jaylyn and Jessica (Jaydyn's new name).**

**Thanks so much for the reviews, and because so many people think that the names are confusing because they are sooo much alike, I have decided to change Jaydyn's name to Jessica.**

Chapter 2: A Big Decision

"Pookie, what do you think of having some more children?" Maureen sat drinking her coffee as she asked her wife Joanne.

Joanne almost choked on her coffee that she was drinking, "'Some' more Honeybear? I thought we were content with the two that we had?"

"Well, maybe not some as in 5 but you know, I think I want to have a child, as in _you know_ Pookie!" Joanne shifted.

"Maureen, are you saying that you actually want to try and have a child?" The diva beamed, Joanne always knew just what she was trying to say.

"Yes!!" The lawyer put a small smile on her face.

"And just who is going to carry this baby? I've always wanted to but if you want to..."

"No! Jo you'd be sooo much better at carrying a child than me, I just don't think I could take the pressure…Morning sickness, mood swings, ugh, it'd be like a never ending hangover!"

The two women decided on the matter fairly quickly on this matter. They would go to a doctor to look at their options as soon as possible. Joanne really couldn't believe it, she really would be a mommy! First things first though, they had to tell the girls.

As Jaylyn and Jessica walked out of their room to tell their parents of a job completed, the two mommies approached them.

"Girls how would you like to have a new baby brother or sister live with us?" Maureen asked them

"Why mommy, are you going to adopt another kid like us?" Jessica asked.

The lawyer and the diva exchanged glances. "No sweetie, momma and I are going to try and have a new baby our self. It will grow in momma's tummy."

"Umm ok, I guess mommy, but momma won't the baby hurt you?" Jaylyn asked.

"No sweetie, not at all, in fact, it will even be fun for me I think!" Joanne replied confidently.

The girls agreed that a new baby would be fun and so all four of them decided that it was now time to go to tell the other Bohemians. It was time for a trip to Life.

The whole gang gathered at life and they all ordered the usual wine and beer (well except for Jaylyn and Jessica, they had lemonades). Finally it was time for Mo and Jo to tell the reason why they really came here today.

"Okay, so we have an announcement to make," Joanne said.

"Momma's gonna have a BABY!" Jessica blurted out. Not exactly the way that the two women wanted to tell everyone but it worked. Mark sat at the table with his eyes opened wide and his mouth hanging open.

"It's true Uncle Mark! She told us today before we got here!" Finally Mark got his voice back.

"Well, this is quite an announcement…" Maureen stifled a giggle.

"Well we didn't want to tell you this way, but since Jessica so plainly put it, we really are going to try and have a baby."

"Well good for you. Now I can take home these lovely girls all to myself!" Collins added with a grunt.

All of the Bohemians gave congrats to the two women. It was really great to have friends who supported their decisions; it would make the whole process so much easier.

Now, the only thing left to do was find a doctor.

Decisions, decisions, decisions…

**Okay so I hope you liked this one, I have exams tomorrow so after I'll try to get in chapter 3…don't forget to review!!! **


	3. Finding a Doctor

**Finding a Doctor**

Over the course of three long months, Joanne and Maureen looked all over for a good doctor. They went from total conservatives—people who were totally freaked out by the thought of two women having a baby—to even weird hippie-types who suggested taking natural herbs as the starting treatment. So with all of the people that medical schools seemed to allow to be doctors, the search rightfully took three months.

But finally the two women came across someone who seemed to know just what he was talking about. Dr. Thoms-Menzel (**A/N:** hahaha get it?) seemed to be the perfect doctor for their situation.

"So I understand you ladies want to be mommies, correct?" Maureen spoke up first.

"Yes that's right Doc. We really want to try and have a baby and we want it to be a girl, um and mixed race if that's possible. Right Joanne?" The lawyer smirked.

"Uh, yes mother. But honestly Dr. Thoms-Menzel, I know our list may seem extensive, but it's only because we truly know what we want. Although—" she glanced at Maureen, "—we'd be happy as long as the baby is healthy, right Honeybear?"

"Oh, well duh pookie! That was a given!" The doctor chuckled.

"Well ladies I always like to have patients who know what they like, so you two seem like perfect candidates for the newest type of in vitro fertilization trial." Maureen raised an eyebrow.

"Trial, as in we'd be _lab rats_?" Something about this whole thing just didn't seem right to her. The doctor chuckled; he probably would have reacted the same way.

"Well not exactly lab rats. This has been tried before on numerous, uh, lesbian couples and on 90 of patients we have been successful."

"And the other 10?" Joanne asked. The lawyer always wanted to know the logistics of things.

"They have also been able to have children, just not using this method. Let me explain it to you…"

The doctor took out some pamphlets and began to explain the process to them. Apparently through some unexplainable new science, a woman's eggs could be turned into sperm. The Mreps process, as it was called, would make sure that it could be possible for both Joanne and Maureen to both be parents of the baby. Because there would be no need for Maureen to adopt the baby after birth, the new parents were both game.

"So what's the catch of this, Dr. Thoms-Menzel?" Maureen asked.

"You're a bright woman Mrs. Jefferson-Johnson. The only pattern that we have noticed is multiple births. In 60 of successful births the mother has either had twins or triplets. So there is a possibility that you may give multiple births, is that okay with you?" Joanne sat there dumb-struck with her mouth wide open, but finally spoke.

"More than one, as in two or three?" Maureen looked at her lover with the irresistible puppy eyes.

"Pookie, come on, we wanted kids and now we'll get them. Come on pook, pleeeease?! It'll be fu-un…"

Finally Joanne gave in, "Oh all right Mo, anyway we did want a large family."

Joanne was slightly shocked on the quiet ride home. Before, she knew she was probably going to be a mother, but now, she would be a momma to 4 or 5 little girls…It was surreal to her.

The women got home from the appointment and were greeted by the sounds of Dora the Explorer playing to sleeping girls. Mimi, who had been watching them, came out of the guest room just as the women came in. Maureen had chose Mimi to watch the girls because just like her and Joanne, she had a little daughter, Mia. She and Roger had been walking in the park one day and saw a little girl who looked about a year old with a note on her coat asking for someone nice to take care of her. That was a year ago and ever since, they had adopted and fell in love with her.

As the children started to wake up, the three friends talked about what it was like to be mothers. Finally though, they told Mimi the good news.

"Mimi, we've found a doctor! And guess what else; we might even have twins or triplets!" Joanne exclaimed.

"Oh chicas, I'm so happy for you! Just think more little Mo's and Jo's roaming the streets of East Village." Mimi chuckled, "Boy are your hands gonna be full girlfriend."

"Ugh, don't I know it." Maureen responded.

"Honeybear, I think she was talking to _me_."

"Oh," Maureen chuckled.

Mimi finally left and took the girls with her and Mia for a little time at the park. The women were basically left with idle time, and you know the saying… "Idle time leads to idle hands". Before long the two were naked in the master bedroom with Maureen straddling the lawyer. She passionately kissed her before saying, "Lets make a baby pookie."

Both women laughed at the little joke before kissing again as Maureen's hands traveled down south. For a while Joanne lost her breath and once she got it back, she gasped.

"A baby!"

**Yeah it was sort of long-ish, but that's okay right?? Oh and I have a little challenge for you…can you guess how I came up with the Mreps process?? I'll give you a hint, look at the WORD!!! Don't forget to review!**

**p.s. do you all think I should cover the pregnancy over each month or like one story summing up every 3 months??? Do tell dearies.**


	4. Mood Swings Much?

**Sorry it took me so long to post, I was in a sad mood and this is supposed to be a not sad-ish type story so enjoy!!**

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Mood Swings Much? **

Joanne was a month pregnant yet you wouldn't be able to tell by just looking at her. The lawyer was turning more and more into a drama queen each day. The doctor had warned them that the first trimester would be particularly trying on the couple, but the mood swings were something _no one_ would have expected, come on it was _Joanne_ here.

Joanne walked into the apartment from a very wearisome day and was shocked at the condition of her living quarters.

"Maureen! Why is the house such a mess? I go to work trying to make money for our family and _this_ is what I have to come to?!" The diva didn't answer Joanne while se was ranting and for a little while this made her very upset. But as mood swings do seem to go, as soon as she was pissed at her wife, she was concerned.

Until she ran into a note on the table, the lawyer was frazzled looking all over for Maureen and the kids.

_Pookie, I took the girls out for some fresh air and ice cream. We should be back before I have to start dinner so just sit and relax! Smooches, Maureen aka Honeybear_

After reading the note, Joanne became surprisingly happy; the girls were out and she had some time alone to herself. Sometimes being pregnant became a struggle for the lawyer because she was used to being so independent. For instance, ever since they found out they would be having a baby Maureen had insisted on cooking dinner almost every night, and cooking and Maureen don't go together.

Since she had all this free time, Joanne decided to phone up the Bohemians and invite them over for dinner. Joanne phoned Mimi and Roger's loft and waited as the phone rang. Finally someone picked up.

"Hello?" a tired and sleeping Roger answered.

"Roger? It's Joanne. I was planning a little surprise get together for Maureen tonight since she has been working so hard lately for me. Do you think you, Mimi, and Mia could make it tonight?" Roger thought about it for a while.

"Uh yeah, I'm pretty sure that we could all make it tonight, does 5:30 sound good?"

"Perfect! See you all tonight!" Joanne hung up the phone and felt truly happy for the first time in her pregnancy. _Maybe it won't be so bad, _she thought to herself.

She decided to get Mark and Collins next so she dialed the number waiting for the answering machine to pick up.

_SPEEAK!_

"Mark, Collins?" Are either of you—" Just then Collins picked up the phone.

"Hey Jo, What do you need girl?"

"Well I'm putting a little something together for Maureen and I want you and Mark to come…Mimi and Roger will be there too." Collins chuckled.

"Aww ain't that cute, you putting something together for your Honeybear…" Joanne giggled at the man's comment. "Yeah we'll be there honey."

"Good, come around 5:30 okay? Bye Collins."

Joanne was excited about the whole dinner thing. She knew Maureen would appreciate her actions and she could have fun doing it. Now the only problem that she had was what to cook. She went online and found a recipe for grilled salmon and wild rice. She thought it was perfect and got started on cooking right away.

Maureen walked into the house around 5:15 with the girls and smelled the delicious food.

"Pookie, what are you cooking, it smells wonderful!?" The girls came in quickly after and smelled the food as well.

"Momma, momma!!! What are you cooking us for?" Jessica yelled across the house. Joanne came out of the bathroom and saw her three favorite people in the world.

"Hey my girls, did you enjoy your time out with mommy?" she asked as the twins Jessica and Jaylyn came running into her arms.

"It was fun momma, but why do we get a fancy dinner tonight?" Jaylyn asked. Joanne looked over at Maureen, the woman that she loved with all her heart.

"It's a special dinner for mommy. I wanted to thank her for helping me out when I needed it with the baby." Joanne put the girls down and went over to Maureen to kiss her deeply as the girls giggled hysterically and ran into their room to play.

"Oh Pookie you didn't have to, I like helping you out. And you know if you wanted to thank me…"

"What makes you think I won't later?" Just then the doorbell rang and the party got started.

"Uncle Mark, Uncle Collins, Uncle Roger, Auntie Mimi!!" Both girls screamed as the bohemians got together. Soon they were all rolling around on the floor with the girls; all except Mimi and Mia.

"What's wrong with Mia? Why isn't she playing with the rest of those kids?" Joanne asked as she motioned to all of the Bohemians playing in the living room. Mia went and laid her head on her mother's shoulder.

"She's been acting very shy for a while; I'm not quite sure, but ever since I took her and the girls to the park, she's been less talkative." Mimi said with a concerned look on her face.

"Oh she'll be fine soon; I'm sure of it."

"I just hope so. I can remember the day when Roger and I found her in the park. She was _so_ little and her mother just _left_ her there. I remember she was in the slide crying, wailing actually, and completely stopped when she saw Roger. It was like she knew she was safe. She's grown so much since that day; we even got her to talk." Joanne smiled.

"Yeah I remember that day because she was over here when it happened. She just looked at me and started babbling. The only recognizable words I heard were 'Auntie Joanne' and she's been my favorite little niece ever since." Joanne reached for the little girl, but Mia stayed with her mom.

"And now she won't even come to _you._" Mimi said. Almost immediately after Mimi said that, the phone rang. Maureen went and picked it up.

"Hello? Oh Dr. Thoms-Menzel….uh-huh…okay…wow, yeah I'll tell her for you." Maureen got off the phone and a hush came over the room.

"Pookie that was the doctor, He had some new that he thought I should tell you."

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AHHHHH! Cliffy I know, I know…but there couldn't be a happy ending in _each_ chapter could there? You'd get bored with me. Okay…click the little purple go button now; you know its calling your name…just listen. **


	5. Just One

**Just One**

Joanne felt her way to the nearest seat and gingerly sat down. "What is it Maureen; what did he say?"

A sly grin came over the diva's face. She knew that she shouldn't play with Joanne now, especially with her hormones raging and all, but she couldn't help it.

"Pookie, I know you were looking forward to having triplets, but I just got some news for the doctor…" Joanne's eyes teared up as Collins and Mimi went over to comfort her.

"The babies are okay, right?" Joanne pondered.

"Well not _they_ exactly, but—"

Just as Maureen was about to tell Joanne the news, Mia, who had been so quiet all night, grabbed her ear and started screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Mommy, daddy!! Hurt! My ear hurt! Help me peese!" It pained her parents that the first thing that their little girl had said all day was a cry for help.

The bohemians were in a pickle. They had little Mia, who wouldn't let go of her ear and no one could tell what really was wrong. Then not five seconds away from the screaming little girl was Joanne, the lawyer who was usually so calm, about to panic because Maureen wouldn't giver her the doctor's message in its entirety. They had to calm down someone and they had to do it soon or the house would go into shambles.

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"Mia, sweetie, let daddy look at your ear," Roger requested. The rocker gently took the little girl's hand down and was shocked by what her saw. No wonder she was screaming, her ear was bleeding!

"Oh my gosh! Someone call the damn ambulance! She's bleeding; for Christ's sake, hurry up!" Mark quickly obliged and called 9-1-1.

Meanwhile tears were still coming down the lawyer's face as she still had no clue about what was going on inside of her. Maureen realized that it was a mistake keeping such important news from her and decided to spill. After all if it had been her she would have bitten off Joanne's head by now.

"Pookie, the doctor just called to say everything is _okay. _He called and told me to tell you that we are having a girl. One healthy baby girl." After Joanne took the time to absorb all that was being said, a smile slowly crept across her face.

"So…so, everything is okay? We're still having a baby?"

"Yes Jo, we're really having a baby."

The couple seemed to be okay now, but Collins and Mimi just glared at Maureen. "You got this girl cryin' and all for _good_ news?" Collins popped her on her arm and Maureen gave him the signature puppy dog pout.

"Not gonna work _chica_, not gonna work," Mimi responded.

The only problem left for the Bohemians to handle was Mia's bleeding ear. Since Joanne was feeling better, she thought she would go and help counsel the little girl.

"Come sit with Auntie Jo while mommy and daddy talk about your ear baby," she cooed to the little girl. Then she said to her girls, "Jaylyn and Jessica go and get momma a toy that Mia can play with please." The girls sensed the tension in the room and went to go find a toy suitable for their little friend. The two of them came back with a stuffed bear and Mia grabbed hold of it after which she reluctantly went to lie down on her auntie's bosom.

Roger and Mimi went to talk about Mia's situation in the guest room. "What are we going to do Mimi? I cannot loose another person that I love, I can't; I refuse to do it." It was rare that Roger talked about Angel's death but whenever he did it was always bittersweet.

"Hey you, do not talk like that. The ambulance is on the way and Mia will be _fine. _Just have faith on this one okay sweetie? She will be okay." Mimi kissed her lover just enough to calm him down, but at the same time all she could was: _Please, just let her be okay._

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R&R por favor. Oh I finally figured out how to write stuff on my profile (I'm a little slow in the common sense area) so you can see pictures of Mia and Jess n' Jaylyn now.**


	6. Change is Gonna Come

**Disclaimer: I don't own RENT, or the title of this chapter, Sam Cooke owns that. I guess I should mention I don't own Dora the Explorer also. Enjoy!**

**Change is Gonna Come**

The ambulance came to Joanne's apartment and for a second the EMS were a little confused.

"Hey which one?" one of the workers asked while pointing to both Joanne and Mia.

Joanne of course was offended and went off on the poor guy, "Do I look like I'm in labor? No! It's the little girl who needs help so, do your stinking job before I sue the fuc—stinking pants off of you!" Roger looked at Joanne and was surprised.

"Jo, it's okay, he didn't know. But, hey man, we should ride with you guys, right?" The EMS worker seemed to come out of his trance from just being screamed at by a pregnant woman.

"Yeah, you and the mom should come to keep her calm while we look at her ear." Mimi went into action.

"No problem of course we are coming. Roger, grab her diaper bag and a juice box from the fridge. _Mija_, my daughter come sweetie, we are going to go to the doctor to help you get better okay?" The little girl went back to her mother and the family walked downstairs in a hurry into the ambulance.

An eerie silence lurked across the home after Roger, Mimi, and Mia left. Collins spoke up first and decided that they needed to get to the hospital as quickly as possible to support their friends. They all hopped into Maureen's minivan and dropped the girls off at an all night daycare center and went to the hospital.

When they got there the receptionist seemed a bit startled at the group of people running up to her desk in such a frazzled manner. "Please, please, slow down! How can I help you?"

"Our friends' daughter just came in with an ear problem; her name is Mia Davis-Marquez. Do you know where we can find her?" Mark asked. The receptionist nodded.

"Of course, she's right down there and to the left. I believe it is room number 278, but when you go please be quiet." All of the bohemians agreed to stay on their best behavior and went to see Mia.

The got to the room and were shocked, yet at the same time relieved. The little girl had a tube in her ear but otherwise seemed okay. Roger and Mimi looked up when they saw their friends come in the rooms. They motioned for the bohemians to come in.

"The doctors say that she should be okay by tomorrow." Mimi said with a relieved sigh.

"Well what was wrong with her in the first place?" Joanne asked. Roger filled in the group on what was going on.

"It seemed as though our doctor was not as thorough as she should have been in giving Mia a check-up this year. Apparently she suffers from chronic ear problems and because it wasn't properly diagnosed her eardrum just sort of blew. That also may be why she didn't speak for a while."

The tension of the room was instantly broken as the good news was known. They were all glad that nothing truly serious was wrong with Mia and the only thing left to do was waiting. Since Jessica and Jaylyn would be taken to school by a bus that came to the daycare the next morning, all of them decided to stay overnight with Mia. Maureen convinced the doctors that Joanne needed to sleep on at least a couch if not a bed and finally a cot was brought into the room for Joanne to lie down on.

"Honeybear, you didn't have to do this you know. I could have slept in a chair." The diva looked at the lawyer like she had seven eyes.

"Pookie, what if your water was to break? We couldn't have you sleeping in a chair, I'm sure that's not good for out little munchkin," she said while kissing Joanne's belly. The lawyer just yawned and they all fell asleep.

Bright and early, all of them were awaken by the sound of Dora the Explorer blaring on the television. Mimi was the first to notice it, but the others soon followed as it was hard to stay asleep while someone was screaming _"Swiper no swiping, Swiper _NO_ swiping!"_

"Morning mommy! You watch Dora wit me? She funny!!" Mia said in response to seeing her mom awake.

"Hey love," Mimi said groggily, "I see you are feeling better. How about we turn Dora down just a little so we can let Auntie Mo, Auntie Jo, Uncle Collins, Uncle Mark, and Daddy sleep a little longer, okay?"

"Ohhhhhh sleepy babies…" Mia responded sweetly, "Okay mommy, shhhh."

Collins yawned and woke up anyhow, "Hey darling, I see you are feeling much better now? Uncle Collins is very glad to hear that. Now what do we have here on TV?"

Soon it was ten-thirty and pregnant or not, Joanne had to go to work. "Alright all, I'll see you around, next time hopefully not in a hospital!"

Slowly the others dispersed as well and Roger and Mimi silently watched as their daughter enjoyed herself.

"Roger, it seems like just yesterday she wouldn't say a thing and now we can't get her to be quiet!"

"Uh Meemz, that was yesterday you dork!" The couple started wrestling on the floor when suddenly they heard a knock on the door. An embarrassed nurse came through the door.

"Oh, sorry to interrupt, but I was just told that Mia can go home any time now. Here is her medicine, have her take it before lunch and bedtime every day for a week. You can give her a bath if you'd like, then just come and sign out okay?"

The family was quickly out of the sad and dreary hospital and in the blink of an eye it was time for Mia to go to bed.

"Momma, sing me a song," she said.

"Say please…" Mia smiled her million dollar smile and asked more politely.

"Peeeeeease…" Mimi laughed and snuggled with her daughter.

"Okay sweetie. How about this one, it makes mommy feel happy whenever she is sad okay? Here goes:

"_I was born by the river in a little tent  
Oh and just like the river I've been running ever since  
It's been a long, a long time coming   
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will_

It's been too hard living but I'm afraid to die  
Cause I don't know what's up there beyond the sky  
It's been a long, a long time coming  
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

I go to the movie and I go downtown somebody keep telling me don't hang around  
It's been a long, a long time coming  
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

Then I go to my brother  
And I say brother help me please  
But he winds up knockin' me  
Back down on my knees  
Got me beggin' please!

There been times that I thought I couldn't last for long  
But now I think I'm able to carry on  
It's been a long, a long time coming  
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will"

Mimi finished and looked at her little girl who was now asleep in her arms.

"Change is gonna come…" she said as she kissed Mia on the forehead and went to be with the man she loved.


	7. Couvade

**A/N: Oh yeah, I'm updating! WOOT WOOT! Okay this is kind of long so yeah, get a glass of apple juice, a pillow, and sit back and get ready to read.**

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Couvade**

Thursday, October 29th: Joanne was now officially in her second month of pregnancy. She had been feeling a little under the weather up to date and decided to take the day off. As soon as the lawyer sat up to stretch from a long night's sleep, she was elated for her boss's leniency. For as soon as she stood up to get her morning coffee, a wave of nausea came over her like a boulder. Se ran as quickly as she could into the bathroom and heaved out last night's dinner.

Maureen rolled over expecting to feel Joanne next to her and was a tad startled when she didn't feel her love next to her. _Oh well, she probably took a potty break, _the diva thought as she rolled back over and fell asleep. Five minutes later Maureen heard something in the master bathroom. It sounded like… Maureen ran into the bathroom.

"Pookie, are you okay?" Joanne nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine, its just a little mor –" she was cut off and threw up once again into the toilet. Maureen offered what support she could by tying Joanne's hair back into a somewhat ponytail and rubbing her back while she vomited. Finally the lawyer stopped.

"Well at least I know it shouldn't last so long. The reading I got from the doctor's office said that nausea and vomiting were usually just second and third month deals." Joanne smiled weakly. Maureen furrowed her brow.

"If you say so…" Joanne nodded.

"I do. See I'm feeling better already, lets go and get the girls ready for school okay?" Joanne grabbed her lovers ass and pushed her out of the bathroom with her.

"Jo! It's not New Years yet!" Maureen giggled as she walked into the twins' room. "Time to get up my little dearies!" the diva yelled as she threw open the curtains.

"Good morning sunshines! Time for a bee-autiful day!" Joanne caroled after her wife. Jessica and Jaylyn slowly rose and went into the kitchen to get some apple juice while their mothers continued to sing in their bedroom.

"Why are Mommy and Momma so loud in da morning?" Jessica asked Jaylyn with a yawn.

"Jessie, don't ask me. I just four years old." Jessica laughed at her sister.

"Hey, know what Jay? Maybe it's a…what's that word…a bohemian thing." The two girls snorted with laughter listening to their parents singing 'Oh What a Beautiful Morning" in the background.

The singing suddenly stopped and Joanne paused, "Shit, I gotta pee!"

Jessica gasped, "Momma said the s-word Jaylyn, that's a bad, bad, word. Mommy said so."

"Oh Jessica, she's preg'ant. She can say _any_thing." Jessica's eyes got big.

"Wow, I wanna have a baby too!"

The girls walked out of the kitchen to see what their eccentric mothers had picked out for them to wear to school today. At their school, St. Anthony's, they had to wear a uniform, but it always surprised the teachers how…accessorized…they always were.

Jessie, always wanting to be like her mother, always had outfits with sparkles and lots of jewelry. Then as a final touch, she would always wear a broach in the shape of a cow on her skirt as a pin to hold it together. Jessica's hair was always in a frazzle too. Sometimes it was up, other times it was down, but it always was _different_, to say the least.

Jaylyn on the other hand, had more conservative outfits picked out for her. Each day a different tie was picked out for her (of course that matched her maroon plaid skirt) and some days she even got to wear her Elmo suspenders. But when it came to detail, the future lawyer was never at a loss. Her knee highs were the same length and she would throw a tantrum if one of her ponytails _dared_ to be uneven with each other.

The saying is that opposites attract and as the family walked down the street to the school, you could see how true it really was.

"Have a nice day you two," Joanne said before letting the girls off into their preschool classroom.

"They grow up so quickly don't they Pookie?" Maureen said while watching the girls play in the classroom.

"I know, don't they? And just think, soon we will have another little girl to add to the family."

"Yep, oh hey Jo, I forgot to tell you that I made an appointment to see the doctor today…surprise!" Joanne looked at Maureen and raised an eyebrow.

"Surprise? What kind of surprise is this? What Maureen, do you think I'm unable to make my own appointment? Maureen do you see me as a _child_?" the diva stifled a laugh.

"Pookie, I thought the mood swings were over for you! But I'm sorry, I should have told you, I just thought it would be a nice surprise for you." After hearing this, the lawyer burst into tears.

"Oh, you are so good to me and all I do is yell at you! How can you stand being with me? I'm a wreck! You're tight it was a nice surprise, I was just being mean. I'm sorry." Maureen snaked her arms around her lover's neck and looked her deep in the eyes.

"Joanne Jefferson-Johnson," Maureen said in her best motherly tone, "You are the smartest, sexiest and all around best person that I know. You know what also, you aren't a wreck. You're pregnant with my munchkin so just calm your self down." The couple hugged each other and walked off to the apartment to get ready for their appointment.

The appointment was scheduled for noon that day so after they'd cleaned up around the house the lawyer and the diva went to Life Café for a little breakfast. The waitress seated them in their usual seats although at this time of the day it was pretty barren. Joanne ordered a glass of milk to keep the calcium traveling to the munchkin's bones along with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with ketchup and jalapeños. Surprisingly Maureen ordered the same and devoured it like it was the best thing she had ever tasted.

"Uh Honeybear, I see you are suffering from cravings as well?" Maureen shrugged.

"I guess so, but all I know is that this is really good. I wonder why? Usually I'd be totally disgusted by something like this." Joanne chuckled.

"You're probably experiencing couvade. It's pretty common right now."

"I'm a what? Now Jo, I know your hormones are all crazy but there is no reason to call me names."

"No Honeybear, cou-vade. It's a condition that many partners experience where out of sympathy for me experience the same things I do. Some partners can even feel contractions!" Joanne was thrilled about this prospect but Maureen was on the verge of being furious.

"Contractions? Jo, that's why _you_ are having the baby, so I won't have to feel all of this icky stuff," Joanne pecked her lover on the lips.

"Come on silly, we're gonna be late."

The doctor's office was not far and luckily there was only one other patient that day. The two sat around looking at parenting magazines and commenting on things they could do with the kids. Joanne was really interested in an article on new breast feeding methods.

"Hey Pookie, we can practice using me as your baby you know," Maureen suggested. Joanne just smiled.

"Oh we should defiantly get some practice in." As the couple giggled together a nurse came to the door. "The doctor will see you now."

"Are you nervous baby?" Maureen asked.

"Just a little, but everything's gonna be okay. I can tell." The lawyer replied, a little nervous.

"Of course it will Pookie. Look, we have a healthy little baby girl growing in you and she will be okay, okay?" The diva kissed Joanne to try and calm her.

The doctor came in and took blood and urine samples from Joanne. "Okay Joanne, we are going to measure your tummy. This month the baby will grow very quickly so next month we should see a big difference." The doctor placed the tape measurer on Joanne's belly and read off the measurement, "So right now your stomach is at 36 inches."

Joanne was disappointed, she felt really fat now. But Maureen on the other hand felt happy about it. "Pookie, you aren't fat, you're carrying a munchkin!"

"Okay you two, no fighting," the doctor chuckled, "would you like to hear the heartbeat Joanne?"

"Wow, we can do that? Oh wow, well, I…we…yes, we want to hear the heartbeat!" Joanne sputtered out. The doctor rubbed the ultrasound jelly on Joanne's stomach and moved the machine around to take a look at the little munchkin, who was only about an inch long.

"Okay so there she is, that little thing right there, and if I turn on the volume…" The room was filled with the pulsating heartbeat of an unborn baby. The couple's eyes filled with tears and finally Maureen spoke up.

"Can we have some pictures of our munchkin, doc?"

"Of course, no problem at all." The doctor pressed print and two copies of their new baby were presented to them.

"Thank you so much, doctor, thanks a lot," Joanne said as the couple left the office.

"Wow Honeybear that was amazing. The twins will be thrilled. We should go get them so we show them." The twins were playing on the playground as the couple walked up to the school.

"Hey little girls! Come one we're gonna sign you out," Maureen said. Jaylyn and Jessica walked with there mothers to get their things and leave. They met Joanne outside and started the trek home.

"So, mommy and I have something to show you," Joanne said.

"What is it momma?" Jaylyn asked. The lawyer pulled the pictures out of her purse and gave one to each girl.

"This is the first picture of your new baby sister."

The twins' eyes got big as they saw just what the little baby looked like.

"Oh shit!" they yelled in unison. Maureen and Joanne stopped dead in their tracks and looked at each other.

"Where'd they learn _that_?" Joanne whispered loudly as they caught up with their daughters to find out the truth behind the s-word.


	8. Your Entire Fault

A/N: Sorry for not updating in so long, but you know school is rough, and so I have had less time on my hands. So here it is, I hope you like it…

**Your Entire Fault**

"Ugh! I feel so fat!" Joanne complained as she walked into the apartment after a long, hard day at work.

"Pookie how often am I going to have to remind you that you are not fat, you are _pregnant_?" Maureen sighed as she went over to embrace her wife in a hug.

"I know Honeybear, but I still _feel_ fat." The diva smiled sweetly at Joanne who was feeling quite frustrated at this point.

"Okay…but you're not fat. What you are though is being a bad girl…what _ever _am I going to do with you?" Joanne smirked at Maureen; her anger was slowly fading away.

"I know, maybe I need a spanking…" Maureen's eyes got big as she playfully slapped her lover's ass.

"Oooh, Miss Joanne who knew you could be so kinky??" Jessica and Jaylyn walked in the kitchen just as their parents' make-out session was heating up.

"Uh, hellllooooo! Kids in the room!" Jessica yelled as she ran over to give her momma a hug. "Momma, that is so gross, da baby can _see_ you!"

The parents flew apart and Joanne scooped up the twins into a hug. The girls struggled to get down and quickly changed directions deciding to go into the playroom.

"You know, Honeybear, Jessie is right. Our little munchkin's inner ear is already developed so even though she can't see us, she can hear us. Maureen looked thoughtfully at Joanne.

"Well in that case Pookie, we are going to have one horny baby!" The couple giggled like schoolgirls before breaking apart so Joanne could change into some more comfortable clothes.

The lawyer walked into her room and shucked off her clothing. Before going into the closet to pick out an outfit that she could change into, Joanne looked at herself in the mirror. _I am HUGE_, she thought to herself. Then with an exasperated sigh she went into the armoire to try and find something that would fit over her increasingly larger belly. But of course with her being three months pregnant and still trying to fit into normal clothes, things were to say the least, a little snug. Finally she gave up.

"Gosh! Why am I so fat?" the lawyer screamed as she ran out of the bedroom with just her bra and panties on. Maureen tried to fake an angry face as she eyed her lovers beautiful body half-naked.

"Pookie, the kids are home, can't the spanking wait until bedtime?" Even though her comment should have calmed down Joanne's nerves it just made her even angrier.

"Maureen I'm serious! I cannot fit into anything and it is pissing me off!" Maureen looked sympathetically at her lover as stinging tears threatened the lawyer's eyes. It had to be really frustrating noticing that in what seemed like no time at all, all of her clothing was too small. Maureen felt bad; this was a whole new experience for the both of them and Maureen couldn't do anything to make it any easier for Joanne…or could she?

"Jo, how about we say that as soon as Saturday comes, I go and take you shopping?" Even from the playroom, the girls heard the word shopping and ran out of the room.

"Are we going shopping?!? This is so amazin'" Jaylyn said. Joanne and Maureen laughed at their daughters' enthusiasm to shop, even if it wasn't going to be for them. They knew that once Jessie and Jaylyn became teenagers, all credit cards would have to be hidden.

"Yes sweetie, we are going shopping, but only for momma." Maureen said in response.

"Honeybear do you really mean that? Thank you so much, you are the absolute best wife a girl could ask for! Wow, do you know what, I think I'm gonna go put on some clothes now." The pregnant woman skipped off to her room and came out five minutes later with a huge t-shirt and a pair of plaid boxers on.

"Well, aren't we a happy bunch?" Maureen asked as Joanne walked out of the room.

"I am now thanks to you. So about this trip…" Joanne started and they were off. Four girls planning a shopping spree; who knew what could come out this adventure.

Saturday came around and around noon Mia and Mimi came over the apartment because they were also invited on the shopping trip.

"Chicas you have no clue how happy I am to get out of that house! Roger was driving me crazy with all his questions. 'How long are you gonna be gone…why are you shopping again…_HOW_ much money do you want???' Ay dios mio, he's driving me loco!" Mia was looking at her mom and nodding her head in agreement.

"Sí, Auntie Jo, he silly man, he make funny faces!" Mia made faces to imitate Roger and the adults chuckled at the little girl's comment as they watched her go and play with the twins.

"So I take it she's doing a lot better now?" Maureen asked Mimi.

"She's doing so much better that you wouldn't have been able to tell that something was ever wrong. Her daycare teachers tell me that they cannot get her to stay quiet anymore. Yep, she's back to being my noisy little baby." The mothers laughed together before rounding up diaper bags, bottles, sippy cups, and cups of coffee (decaf of course).

The New York streets were bustling with activities that day as the six-some made their way to a little boutique that specialized in Maternity clothing. After about an hour of walking – frequently interrupted by potty breaks – they all made it to the store. Joanne, Mimi, and Maureen looked around at their options while keeping an eye on the girls as they imitated the poses of the various manikins.

Mimi browsed through some shirts for Joanne. "These are all so…frumpy…and full of flowers. This will be a change in wardrobe for you Joanne." Mimi and Maureen giggled as Joanne looked horrified at the thought of wearing _floral_ patterns.

"Excuse me ladies, can we try to act like we are in our thirties?" Joanne wittily asked to which Mimi gave a curt response.

"Hey, I'm only 27; don't go trying to add any more numbers to my age!"

Finally after two long hours of searching for clothes the three found some things that Joanne would agree to wear.

"You know I don't understand why you women like shopping so much; it takes up too much time, it's expensive, and just makes my back and my boobs hurt." Joanne said bitterly meaning it was time for the pregnant woman to get a nap in her day.

"Pookie, don't be so silly, we didn't get you anything that was _too_ floral. Stop being such a man!" The couple laughed at Maureen's joke but Joanne still grimaced and held her breasts in her hands.

"Ugh, my boobs really do kill! And do you wanna know something Honeybear? This is your _entire_ fault you amazing woman!" Joanne yelled as she began to chase her wife down the streets of NYC shamelessly crazy in love with this woman whose baby she was carrying.


	9. Birthdays: Part 1

**A/N: I was excited to write this chapter because I got to include Angel finally, though he is still dead :(… If your not sure, it's December now and Joanne is in her fourth month of pregnancy. This was really long so I split it up into two chapters, okay Enjoy!! **

**Birthdays: Part 1**

Maureen and Joanne were sleeping on the couch. Not an hour before, the couple had been trying to watch a video about the second trimester that Dr. Thoms-Menzel had given them. But as could easily be seen just by looking on the couch, they were unsuccessful. For once in a long time, the house was quiet. The girls were at a play-date, the diva wasn't going off at the mouth, and the pregnant lawyer wasn't having a mood swing. This silence had to be too good to be true. Just then a loud ring of the telephone broke the silence. Maureen almost jumped off the couch as she went to answer the phone.

"Mmmhello?" she answered while wiping drool from her mouth. It was Roger.

"Hey Mo. Wait, are you sleeping? It's two o'clock in the afternoon, get up!" The diva groaned at her luck of being forced to endure this torture.

"Roger, what do you want? Joanne and I were just sleeping for your information. It is very hard being pregnant and having kids at the same time." Roger started yelling at Maureen through the phone so loudly that she had to take the phone away from her ear some.

"Lalalalalala! Maureen I don't want to hear about your lesbian rendezvous please!" Maureen laughed at his thickness.

"Oh gosh Rog, get your head out of the gutter, we fell asleep watching a pregnancy video."

"Whatever…But I didn't call for small talk, believe it or not. Angel's birthday is tomorrow and we're all gonna go to her gravesite and then possibly go to Life after. You game?" Maureen looked at her lover who was just waking up on the couch. She was sure that she could handle it, but Joanne? That was another story.

"Yeah Roger I'm 99.9 sure that we'll be there. We just gotta find somewhere for the girls." Roger shook off that idea as quickly as one shakes off a wet coat.

"No, you don't have to do that. We're bringing Mia and she's only two. They're turning five in what, a week? Bring 'em with you." The diva smiled. She liked the thought of introducing the twins to an aunt they never got to meet.

"Okay cool. See you around."

"Alright see ya around sister." Joanne was now awake and walked over to Maureen wondering who had been on the phone.

"That better had not been your secret lover," Joanne said as she snaked her arms around Maureen's waist and rested her head on her shoulder. The diva snickered before resting her head on Joanne's.

"Pookie! You know I got rid of her _years_ ago!"Joanne's shoulders shook to show that she was laughing. "No that was Mr. Davis as a matter of fact. Tomorrow's Angel's Birthday and we're all gonna go visit her grace and chill at Life afterwards. You up to it?"

"Of course I am Honeybear! It'll be nice to go visit her. I don't think that I have been there all this year. Wow, can you believe that it's December 1st already?" Maureen looked pensively at a spot across the room.

"I know; time flies. Can you believe the girls are going to be five next week? I can still remember when we got them. They were only six months old, but the cutest things ever."

"I know and look at them now, they are twin terrors!" The couple kissed each other at their good fortune of having two wonderful daughters and a third one on the way. They were truly a luck family.

"Hey Pookie, you gonna be okay tomorrow, you know with your hormones and all?" Maureen asked as she took lover's face in her hands. Joanne sighed.

"I'm pretty sure I will. The mood swings have cooled down a little so I should be able to handle this." The diva smiled at how brave her Pookie could be.

"Did you know that you're amazing?" she said.

"Oh, well, I've been told that before…" Even though it couldn't be later than 2:15 in the afternoon the couple went off to the master bedroom and didn't come out for a long, _long_ time.

* * *

The following day the bohemians decided to meet at the loft around 2 pm. This usually would have given Maureen and Joanne enough time to wake up, bathe the girls, and be there on time. But the couple hadn't gotten much sleep the night before (get your mind out of the gutter, they were talking!) and so it was a little hard for them to get 'up and at 'em'. In fact it was 12:30 before the family got up.

Joanne rolled over and shot a quick glance at the clock. Cursing to herself, she wondered how she could have ignored the alarm this morning.

"Honeybear wake up; it's 12:30. We gotta give the girls baths and we're supposed to be at the loft by two." Maureen yawned and slowly woke up.

"Huh, wha? Can't they just be dirty for once in their life?" But Joanne was already going to wake up the girls and Maureen's pleas fell on deaf ears.

"No Maureen, they didn't take baths yesterday. Okay so I'll do Jay and you do Jess in the master bath. We can cut down playing time by half and maybe get there on time."

"But Pookie…" Joanne inwardly groaned as she tried to wake up the twins.

"Maureen, please don't do this today!" That finally did the trick and Maureen jumped out of the bead and started running the bath water.

"Come on Jessica, we're gonna take a bath in Mommy's bathtub today!" Jessica padded into the bathroom wearing her teddy bear pj's.

"Okay mommy," she replied, "How come me 'n Jaylyn not takin' our baths togever?" As the diva undressed her daughter and placed her in the tub, she answered her.

"You two like playing in the tub and we have to be somewhere soon," she replied while tickling Jessie's tummy.

"Oh, okay."

In the girls' bathroom, Joanne was having less luck trying to get Jaylyn to stop splashing her.

"Jay," she sputtered, "Momma needs you to stop splashing!" Jaylyn stopped and looked at Joanne.

"But where's my stister? Why can't we be in the bath togever?"

"She's with Mommy. We needed to speed things up today; we have to be somewhere soon." Jaylyn tilted her head to the side as her mother scrubbed her down.

"Well, then…I'm gonna splash my Momma!" Joanne shook her head as she continued to get soaked as she tried bathing the twin.

It probably would have been easier to bather the two together because it took them an hour when usually it was only about forty-five minutes. And of course there was the episode where Jessica decided to run out of the tub stark naked and jump on the master bed. Maureen, in a panic, quickly took her down and got her dressed.

"Alright are we finally ready to go?" the lawyer asked as she braided the last ponytail on Jaylyn's hair, "I hate being late…" Maureen looked at her wife with a sarcastic look as she answered her.

"I'm putting on Jessie's coat now Pookie…"

"I'm just making sure."

At two o'clock the Jefferson Johnsons were not at the loft and Mark was getting worried.

"They're hardly ever late you know…" Mimi sighed at Mark.

"Mark it is only 2:01 calm down." Collins was poking at a spot on his jacket as he monotonously responded to the comments of the group.

"They'll be here guys chill." Everyone mumbled their yeses and at that same moment Jessica and Jaylyn busted through the door and their parents followed in looking worn out.

"Rough morning?" Roger asked while trying to suppress a laugh.

"Very funny Davis. We overslept if you must now." The diva responded curtly. Collins went to break up the fight that was about to start. He enveloped Maureen and Joanne into a bear hug to prevent any bloodshed.

"I'm glad you guys could make it. We were gonna leave you." The couple smiled at him.

"Collins we wouldn't miss this for anything." Joanne replied, "We have the minivan and can fit all the kids plus Mimi and Roger." Collins kissed Joanne on the head, they'd always had a sort of brother/sister type relationship.

"Thanks Jo, I think I can fit Mark somewhere in my trunk." Mark gawked and Collins laughed at him. "I'm just playin' with you boy!"

The filmmaker blushed immensely at Collins' comment, "I knew that Thomas. Come on let's go guys." The bohemians filed into their designated cars and were off to the cemetery to visit a dear family member.


	10. Birthdays: Part 2

**Birthdays: Part 2**

The mood at the cemetery on the brisk December afternoon was very somber. Collins picked up Mia and held the twins hands as he walked them over to the gravesite of his beloved Angel.

"This is your Aunt Angel's grave. You all never got to meet her but I'm positive that she would have loved you all." Mia boldly stepped up to the gravestone and touched it.

"Is she an angel now Uncle?" Collins smiled as tears threatened to fall from his eyes.

"She always was an angel sweetie. I'm sure she'd want to hear all of your voices, how about saying hi to her?"

"Hi…" they all said bashfully. Slowly the other bohemians walked up to the grave and gave their condolences. Maureen was actually the one who broke down and Joanne held her on her lap comforting her. Soon the cemetery was closing for the night and it was time to go. But the bohemians wouldn't go first without saying proper goodbyes. Mark went first to talk with his old friend.

He didn't really have much to say but the little he did was meaningful. "Hey Angel, I hope that your having a drunken good time up there on your birthday. Happy birthday, and remember, today's for _you_." As he walked away, Roger and Mimi went up. Tears freely flowed down Mimi's face and even Roger's eyes looked a little moist.

"Angel baby, we miss you down here girl, but we know that you are watching us chica. See Ang, I have a little girl now so you have to watch her now too, okay? Happy birthday girl, I love you so much…" The Davis' walked away from the grave feeling completed, even though they were still sad and let Maureen and Joanne have their chance to talk to Angel.

"My two girls finally got to meet the best person in the world, Angel." Maureen said. Joanne smiled at her lover and then spoke to her friend who she missed so much.

"Yep, and we've got a third one on the way. You're gonna have your hands full up there you know…well, have a happy birthday girl!" Collins had wanted to go last so he could get in some quality time with his lover.

"Hey lover; it's your birthday and I thought I would just stop by and say hi. You know that we all are doing great thanks to you, but we miss you baby. _I_ miss you. Happy birthday Angel, happy birthday…" With tears in his eyes Collins placed a bouquet of flowers near the stone and left the cemetery with the others. Once they got to the Life Café, Mark decided to make a toast.

"To family, birthdays, anarchy and especially Angel."

"Here, here!" they all cheered in response.

"So I hear that someone has a birthday coming up. I wonder who???" Collins said to no one in particular. Jaylyn and Jessica almost fell our of their seats trying to answer him.

"Ooh, ooh, Uncle Collins, I gots a birthday next week!" Jessica said. Jaylyn looked at her like she had three eyes for saying that.

"No Jessica, _I_ gots a birthday next week."

"Shut up stupid-head, we gots birthdays on the same day. We're twins remember?" Jaylyn gasped because Jessica had just used two words that should _never_ be said in her mind.

"Uuuh, Momma she said shut up _and_ stupid! She needs a time out!" Joanne smiled at how dramatic her Jaylyn could be at times.

"Jessica, apologize to your sister or I might have to cancel your birthday next week!"

Jessica looked in disbelief at her mother; she couldn't do that could she? "Momma, you can't do that can you?"

"I'm pregnant and I can do anything… so you better apologize."

"Oh! Sorry Jay, I don't think that you are a stupid head and you can talk as much as you want to k?"

"That's all I ask!" The twins laughed with one another after that. It was a good day in the life of the bohemians and with the twins birthday coming up it was going to be a busy month. But not one of them thought of complaining as they sat their enjoying each other's company because they were living the life they loved: La Vie Boheme.


	11. Kicking

**Kicking**

Joanne waddled out of her bedroom at four-thirty in the morning. She hated that she couldn't sleep, especially since she would have to go to work in about three hours. The lawyer slowly made her way to the island in the kitchen to make herself a bowl of cereal. These past five months had been tiring on her and now all of it was starting to catch up on her. At least she had an appointment with Dr. Thoms-Menzel to have a look at the baby soon. Maybe then he could explain the blunt pain that she often felt in her abdomen. But right now, it was very early, and even though she was feeling a little icky, Joanne fell asleep while pouring her bowl of cereal.

Maureen woke up around seven-fifteen that morning and saw that Joanne had left the marriage bed. The diva went into the kitchen to look for her and was surprised, to say the least, to see Joanne peacefully sleeping next to a bowl of uneaten Rice Krispies. Gently, the diva placed a blanket around Joanne's shoulders and went to make a fresh pot of coffee. Aroused by the smell of the coffee Joanne woke up bout ten minutes later.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! What time is it? I have to go to work!" Maureen handed a cup of coffee to her lover and sat her back down.

"Pookie, relax…the office just called and said that the case you were supposed to do today was dropped or something like that." Joanne looked skeptically at Maureen.

"Or something? Maureen this is serious, do I have to go to work or not?"

"Or not…They told me to tell you to take some time off because they noticed that you have been kind of stressed lately. Is this true?" Joanne looked down at her cup; she felt like she was being chastised like a child.

"Honeybear, it isn't stress, I just haven't been feeling myself lately. I have this pain in my lower abdomen and I'm just a little worried about our munchkin, that's all." Maureen sympathized for her wife. She was glad that the doctor's appointment was near and that they would soon be able to go and see if anything was wrong with their little munchkin.

"Well Pookie, we are going to the doctor's tomorrow and we'll see what is really up with you and that little girl." Joanne smiled.

"Thanks Honeybear, you make me feel so much better. I just hope this baby is okay…"

"I promise you that she's okay. Now," said Maureen with an impish gleam in her eyes, "let's go get a few minutes more 'rest' before we have to bring the girls to school…" Joanne raised her eyebrows.

"Is anything else _ever_ on your mind?"

"Nope!" The couple raced back to the bedroom for a brief rendezvous before waking the twins.

The next morning, Joanne was up early again but for a different reason. The pain in her abdomen was still there, but now it seemed like something, or someone, was kicking her from the inside. She had been up all night long because the baby, who before now had been fairly quiet started to kick! It was an amazing sensation, but at the same time very uncomfortable because well, someone was kicking her! Maureen came out of the bedroom and saw Joanne with a cup of coffee reading the morning paper.

"Pookie why are you always up so early? It's a weekend…" Joanne, who was in a fairly chipper mood, smiled.

"Honeybear, the baby is kicking!" Maureen was confused for a short moment.

"Wait kicking? As in kicking _you_?" Maureen started talking to Joanne's belly, "Hey sister, don't make me come in there…" The lawyer laughed at her wife's jokes.

"Silly goose it's natural…it just shows that we are going to have a very active little girl when she comes out." Maureen faked a sigh.

"Great, more to add to the bunch…"

"You're the last one to talk Miss Come-on-Pookie-Let's-Go-Play!" After saying this Joanne gathered Maureen into a hug and held her tight for a long time. She loved the sensation of their arms around each other and vowed that she would never let go. But she had to, if only for a moment, so that they could get ready to go to the Doctor's office.

At 11:30 on the dot, they got to the office in time for their appointment and Dr. Thoms-Menzel was ready for their arrival.

"Well how have we been ladies?" he asked.

"We've been great actually—" Maureen cut off Joanne as she was about to finish her sentence.

"Pookie is lying. She told me just yesterday that she was feeling pain in her lower abs, Doc. What should we do about that?" The doctor laughed at the diva's boldness.

"Well I see that you have been taking good care of Joanne. Well Joanne let's have you lie down on the table here and we'll look at the little lady growing in you." The doctor rubbed the ultrasound jelly on Joanne's stomach and together they watched as a figure appeared. Both Joanne and Maureen gasped at what they saw. It was amazing how in only five months, the baby went from looking like a little fishy to a baby; one that had fingers and toes. At the moment, apparently the baby was sleeping because she had her thumb in her mouth.

"A lot of babies in the womb suck their thumbs. Nothing to worry about really; she should stop once you start breast feeding her. Now this pain that you feel Joanne can you tell me where it is?" Joanne thought before she answered him.

"Well, like Maureen said, it is in my lower abs. Also it is near my pelvis bone I guess you could say?" The doctor nodded his head with approval.

"Ah yes, I see. Well what you are experiencing is the ligaments that surround your uterus are stretching now to support the growing weight of the baby. If you would lie on your side, there is a process that I can perform that should relax your muscles a little. Maureen you should watch because you too can do this as well." Joanne lay down on her side and Maureen went over to watch the procedure too.

Apparently this calmed Joanne down much more than she expected because, as she was sitting on the table she let out a mean SBDF (Silent but Deadly Fart). Maureen caught the whiff first and her eyes almost popped out of her head.

"Holy mother of—" Joanne realized what she had done and cut off Maureen.

"_Maureen!_"

"Oh…" the diva went off on a giggling fit and had to leave the room to get some water. As the couple left the office Maureen started playfully teasing the lawyer.

"Pook, I can't believe you farted!" Joanne blushed and walked faster toward the car.

"Maureen flatulence is a natural part of life and everyone does it so just drop it, will you." Maureen couldn't help but come back with a sly remark.

"Sure Miss Farty-Pants!" Even Joanne couldn't help but laughing at that one.

"Okay, okay I admit it was sort of funny. Did you see the doctor's face when it happened though?" The pair laughed about that for at least five minutes until they got to the car.

"Hey you know what Joanne? We should start picking out baby names!" The lawyer nodded.

"Yeah that would be fun. How about Clara?"

"Nah, we need something exotic like Xena or Magdelena!"

"Maureen my daughter will not walk around with the name of a princess warrior! I say a nice simple name like Madison or Jane!"

"Quintessa!"

"Leah!"

And the argument went on for days and days but they still couldn't agree on a name. Hopefully they would decide by the time the little munchkin decided to pop out.


	12. Lesbians, Babies, and Blushing, Oh My!

**I'd like to thank Elpheen for one lovely idea of a name of the still unborn child; you know which one I'm talking about!**

**Lesbians, Babies, and Blushing…Oh My!**

Joanne and Maureen were sitting at the kitchen table arguing once again about baby names.

"But Pookie, Paprika is a nice name. Come on, Paprika Jefferson-Johnson; you know you like it!" The lawyer signed.

"Honeybear, paprika is a seasoning. No daughter of mine will have the name of a seasoning! How about Bailey or Robin, aren't those nice names?" Maureen too sighed in response. This sighing was turning out to be a trend in the household.

"Booooring!" Right as an argument was about to erupt, in walked the twins.

"Mommy and Momma, we had a question for you." Jessica stated.

Jaylyn finished her thought, "Yeah we wanted to know how you gots a baby in your stomach."

"'Cause John at school said that you need to have a daddy for a baby." If nothing else stopped the arguing that surely did. Slowly Maureen and Joanne turned their heads to face their daughters.

"Wha-what?" Joanne managed to stammer out. Jaylyn groaned at her mother's impudence.

"Momma, you heard us; how did you get a baby in your tummy?" Still the lawyer could only stare in amazement at her daughter. Whenever she'd thought about this as a child, she figured she'd never have to answer it—since you know she _was_ a lesbian. Surprisingly, Maureen had it all under control.

"Ooh, I got this one Pookie. Okay girls sit down and your good old Mommy will tell you all about it…" The twins went and sat at the table ready to listen to the speech their mother had planned for them. "So, when two people love each other very much, just like me and your Momma over there," the diva jerked her thumb to Joanne, "then they take a trip to good ole Ireland. Then some leprechauns with special luck especially for people who want babies give them a gold coin that has special powers. All that happened was your momma ate it and…poof! She 'gots a baby in her tummy'" The girls sat there wide eyed and dumb-struck.

"Wow," said Jessica, "a lerprechaun? That is…wow!"

"Momma, is that true? Did you really go to Ireland?" Joanne was trying her hardest not to laugh at her daughter's question.

"Uh sweetie, Mommy stretched the truth a little I think. You know what though; I will tell you all about it tomorrow, but for now just stick to Mommy's story okay?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Cool beans. Now back to picking out a name…" Jessica and Jaylyn looked at each other before bursting out with a name.

"Big Bird!" The couple looked back and forth from each other to the girls and after that it was history for a tickle fight had begun.

The next morning Joanne woke up and called the loft.

_SPEAK! _Joanne hated that they would never pick up the phone over there.

"Ugh, someone pick up this damn phone!" Collins was there to hear Joanne yell at them through the answering machine and picked up the phone.

"Jo is that you? Girl it's ten-thirty in the morning, can't whatever this is wait?"

"Collins you are just the man I wanted to speak to! No this cannot wait. So…you're still gay right?" Collins almost choked on his coffee from laughing so hard.

"Hmm, well if I remember correctly, yes…yes I am. Why do you ask dearie?" Joanne let out a sigh of relief. She was just glad that Collins hadn't turned straight since Angel's death; he was handsome, he could easily get a woman.

"Okay well yesterday the girls asked where babies come from and somehow I think the normal 'when a mommy and a daddy love each other' speech will work." Collins laughed at the lawyer in her desperation.

"You know what, it probably won't. Sweetie, sometime soon you are going to have to explain to your daughters that some families have mommies and daddies and others just have daddies or mommies. Seeing as to how they asked now, I'm going to have to say sooner than later." Joanne began whining because she really hated tough conversations.

"But Collins they are only five years old! They don't need to know these kinds of things yet." On the other side of the conversation, the anarchist was grinning seeing as to how he loved these kinds of things.

"Jo you know kids grow up quicker now than back in the day. It's not 1980 anymore where when momma says something, you better believe it or else. Kids are into asking questions now a day." For what must have been the 100th time that day, the lawyer sighed.

"Well a girl can wish cant she? Alright, I'll tell the girls today but we're coming over your house…we may need reinforcements on this one."

"Sure but uh, don't come over before noon. Normal bohemians are still sleeping."

"Is there really such thing as a _normal_ bohemian?"

"Ah well that's what we educated people call an oxymoron."

Around noon Joanne woke up the rest of the household and they all went out to a little café close by to have a light brunch. After eating they started out their trek to the loft.

"Momma, where are we going?" Jaylyn asked while hopping over cracks in the sidewalk.

"We are going to visit Uncle Mark and Uncle Collins Jay," the lawyer answered.

"Oh. Why are we going to their house Momma?"

"Because." Joanne smiled to herself as she waited for the 'why' part of the question.

"Because why Momma?" The little girl tugged her mother's pant leg because she really wanted to know.

"Because we have some very important business to discuss. Like say for instance, where babies come from…right Honeybear?" Maureen, who had been daydreaming about God knows what, perked up at the sound of her name.

"Huh, what? Yeah, we're—or really Momma is—gonna tell you where babies truly come from. It's very, very fun stuff. It's maybe even better than the Ireland story." Jaylyn curiosity satisfied, the family walked the rest of the distance in semi silence. At last they got to the loft and the twins yelled at the door until Mark decided to let them in.

"Hey girls, how's it going?"

"We're okay. Hey Uncle Marky," Mark hated when Jessica called him Marky and blushed profusely, "Momma's going to tell us where babies come from." Obviously Mark blushed even more at this comment.

"Well then I'll just be heading out to do some filming then…Gotta bring in that money you know!" Maureen grabbed the filmmaker's arm to prevent him from leaving.

"Oh no you don't Marky, you just stay right here to help us explain this little miracle."

"Great." Collins had just come into the room and saw how Mark seemed to be stuck and he laughed.

"So Mr. Cohen, it seems that you'll be here to help us with our lovely little conversation. Wonderful, we could use all the help we can get," he said.

"Well why can't Roger and Mimi help? They have a kid; zoom in on my lovely invisible wife's invisible womb." Joanne shook her head and couldn't believe how much of a baby Mark could be sometimes.

"Mark first off: _shut up_ and stop being such a baby, I'm pregnant and I'm not as shaky as you. Man up! Second: Roger and Mimi are upstate visiting the parents, remember?" Mark nodded "good, now girls sit down while we explain to you the wonders of child conception…"

Maureen smiled, "Alright, let's get this party started."

Jaylyn and Jessica chanted, "Babies, babies, babies!"

Collins grinned, "This should be _very_ interesting."

And poor Mark groaned, "Oh no, here we go…"

* * *

Forty five awkward minutes later the twins sat wide eyed, the diva had a huge smile on her face, the lawyer was sitting in concentration with her brow furrowed, the anarchist was on the balcony smoking a joint, and the filmmaker was sweating and beet red.

"So…do you get it? Did Momma make it easy for you to get or do you have any questions?" Joanne asked her daughters.

"Wow, that was…what's that word Jaylyn?"

"_Intense_."

"Yeah it was intense. But you did a good job Momma. I think we got it now." Joanne finally breathed after holding her breath in anticipation.

"Oh thank God. Now we can never talk about this again, right?" Maureen wrapped her arms around Joanne before answering her.

"Well Pookie, you know Lara Croft is going to ask us the same question one of these days."

"Yeah I know, I'm just getting too—hold up, Lara Croft? Maureen _no_. No, no and no. It will not happen!" Collins and Mark interrupted the argument.

"Well, how about a celebration, ay Cohen?"

"Oh for sure Thomas. Let's go!" They each grabbed an arm of one of the arguing couple and they dragged him to the Life Café to eat and be merry.

"They all went out to get drunk (well except for Joanne and the twins) but not without further arguments for names. Would the madness ever stop?

**Well I hope you all liked it…Now for the fun part, I need help picking a name for the baby, well actually I already have the middle name picked out but... you know. So if you have name ideas give them to me in the reviews, I'll probably add them to the arguments…and I'll credit the people who give me ideas so come on and give me some names!**


	13. As Long as You're Mine

**So I sort of tried a song fic on this one, tell me what you think. For the few names in this chapter I would like to thank krazypirategurl, notEASYbeingGREEN, and Rent is my anti drug. Thanks for all of your ideas! I've finally picked a name now…but the earliest you'll find out will be in the next chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own RENT; well I do, but just not the rights to it. Also I don't own the rights to Wicked either…it's mentioned later on.**

**As Long as Your Mine**

"Pookie, do we _have_ to go to this class? It reminds me of school and I always got sent to the office in school."

"Maureen, don't whine. We have to go to this class because obviously it is quite possible that I go into labor very soon. If you can recall, I am in my seventh month." Maureen slowly nodded. "Good; oh and Maureen, please don't get sent to the office…" The lawyer kissed her wife to hopefully get her to calm down. It worked; Maureen promised to be good if more was to follow the class and Joanne obliged to her request. The couple walked into St. Francis Birthing Center and made the way to room 14B where the class was being held. They should have been prepared to be the only lesbian couple there but…it was still a tad overwhelming.

"Whoa, republicans much?" Maureen said as she found a mat for the couple to sit on. Joanne hit Maureen's arm and the diva reluctantly calmed down. The instructor, who came up and introduced herself, looked fairly nice.

"I'm Sandy and this is the first in a series of classes before your baby is born to coach you on how to handle being in labor. How about we go around the room and introduce ourselves?"

Maureen noticed a pattern as the couples said their names. All of the women pregnant over six months had already picked out names for their babies and she and Joanne were the only ones who hadn't. It embarrassed her a little actually. Maybe this month they would finally be able to agree on name.

"Alright now Mommies, I want you to sit on the mats in between the legs of the Daddies okay?" Maureen sat on the mat and Joanne tapped her on the shoulder.

"Uh, Honeybear, what are you doing?"

"Shhh Joanne! She said for mommies to sit on the mad; pay attention!" Joanne lowered her head and her shoulders shook with laughter.

"Sweetie in _our_ case I think she meant Momma. Where was I gonna sit? Do you think I'm a man now?" Maureen realized her mistake and giggled as well.

"Well that's what happens when you have all of these damn straight couples in a room!" After that little incident, the rest of the class was pretty mundane.

At three that afternoon, the class was done and Maureen and Joanne had nothing else to do with their day.

"Honeybear what say we ask Mimi and Roger to watch the twins overnight and we have a little romantic getaway tonight?" Maureen wagged her eyebrows at the suggestion.

"Pookie who knew you could be so fun! We should play a game too like you're Fiyero and I'm Elphaba from Wicked and we're secret lovers!" Joanne shook her head from side to side.

"I was thinking dinner at Bobby Flay's new place and then we'd go home to a nice quiet night. But sure, we can play when we get home, no problem." Right in the garage Maureen grabbed Joanne and fiercely kissed her. Joanne managed to choke out, "You're holding me too tight!" Maureen let go of holding her lover apologetically.

"Sorry Pookie its just that tonight is gonna be so fun! Do you realize that we may never get to do this for about two more years?" Joanne hadn't really thought about that's aspect. As soon as the new baby (Maureen in her attempt to name the child called her Huberta Felicity but Joanne refused and Called her Ivy Mackenzie) was born it would be a 24/7 job until she was potty trained pretty much. She never thought about the fact that she might not get any for a _really_ long time.

"Maureen do you know what this means and if so, why are we still standing here? Forget dinner, let's go home, change quickly, and make it a lunch date. Come on woman, get a move on!" Maureen and Joanne, who had been dawdling in the parking garage, ran to the car and zoomed home. In a mere ten minutes the couple was at home and picking out their clothes. Maureen put on a fiery red dress and curled up her hair. Joanne on the other hand was having a little more trouble picking out a dress.

"Honeybear did we ever go and buy dresses for me? All I can seem to find are suits!" Maureen looked in the closet with her lover.

W

"Well Miss Lawyer, it seems that someone seemed to forget the prospect of buying dresses!" Joanne shrugged.

"I know…what am I going to do now?"

"Okay, no need to panic; how about your off white pant suit? That's always pretty on you." The lawyer pouted.

"But I wanted to wear a dress too." The diva pecked her on the cheek.

"Aww, its okay you look good in anything. Now come on and get dressed so we have enough time to drop off the twins stuff." Joanne gave in and within the half-hour they were gone. They dropped off the twins bags at Mimi and Roger's and went to the restaurant.

"Where are we going again Joanne?" Maureen asked.

"I was thinking we'd check out Bobby Flay's new place. I heard from some co-workers that the food is amazing.

"Sounds nice."

"It better be at $150 a plate."

"Whoa baby! Well you're always a good picker-outer so I'm sure it will be good Pook."

The lunch indeed was fabulous and according to Maureen the wine was good quality as well. But when it was time to leave neither of them were upset. In fact they both were ecstatic to get home. The fun started as soon as they were on the elevator up to their apartment.

**A:N/ MODERATE SEX SCENE**

Maureen pushed Joanne up against the wall of the elevator. "I want you."

_Kiss me too fiercely  
__Hold me too tight  
__I need help believing  
__You're with me tonight_

"Maureen I love you so much. Don't stop, don't stop…" Joanne breathed heavily with passion as the couple found their way into the home.

_My wildest dreamings  
__Could not foresee  
__Lying beside you  
__With you wanting me_

Maureen began ripping off Joanne's clothing as her mouth made its way down her mocha skin and onto her luscious nipples grabbing them one by one in her mouth and savoring them. "Tell me what you want Pookie."

_Just for this moment  
__As long as you're mine  
__I've lost all resistance  
__And crossed some border line_

"I want you…I…need you!" Joanne tried to mouth her request as Maureen teased her with her tongue. Slowly the diva went down her stomach, past her navel and traced the inside of her legs. Joanne shuddered.

_And if it turns out  
__It's over to fast  
__I'll make ev'ry last moment last  
__As long as you're mine…_

"Tell me what you want Joanne…let me please you…" Maureen heaved out the words while lowering herself on her lover and gently entering her most sacred of parts.

_Just for this moment  
__As long as you're mine  
__Come be how you want to  
__And see how bright we shine_

As Maureen's face went lower and lower Joanne, drenched in sweat from the heat of the moment, arched her back and screamed out, "I want you to eat me baby, I want you in me! Maureen!!!"

_Borrow the moonlight  
__Until it is through  
__And know I'll be here holding you  
__As long as you're mine…_

Maureen licked Joanne's clit until her warm juices came flowing out of her and she lay twitching with the aftermath of an enormous orgasm.

**A:N/ SEX SCENE OVER**

That was…you were…Thanks," Joanne said in a sort of daze.

"No, no, thank you. I love it when you scream my name."

"Let's do it again. But this time, you call _my_ name." With that invitation, Joanne was quickly helping Maureen reach the place of nirvana that she had the pleasure to visit just a few minutes earlier.

* * *

**I want to thank you all for the comments that you have given me. They helped soooo mcuh! Sadly this story is only going to have three more chapters, but don't worry I have something up my sleeves for other stories. Oh and check out my newest story, Trichotillomania, written for Tina's challenge!**


	14. Water

**A/N: It is now April, and Joanne is 8 months pregnant. Just an update… Oh and corporal punishment is discussed in this chapter, but I'm not saying that all parents from the south believe in it, that is just my experience, so don't take offence if you live down south. Really, don't. Mmmkaybye.**

**Water**

Joanne had swollen ankles. She was experiencing shortness of breath. That damn baby wouldn't stop kicking! So, the doctor put her on bed rest; for the rest of her pregnancy, Joanne was not allowed to be on her feet for more than thirty minutes a day. In laymen's terms, the Jefferson-Johnson household was hell.

"Maureen I need my laptop for the tenth time!" Joanne bellowed.

"Joanne you are not immobile and you haven't been on your feet all day. Go get it yourself!" Maureen tartly responded. Today the two of them jus could not get along. Maybe the fact that Joanne was restricted from movement and Maureen was PMS-ing really sent things over the edge.

"Fine Maureen, I'll go get it. But if our daughter comes out and something is wrong with her, I'll say thanks to you." Slowly Joanne managed to waddle out of bed and make her way to the living room where the diva sat with all of the lights off and a wet cloth over her eyes. The lawyer walked over and stepped on Maureen's foot. The diva screamed.

"What the hell was that Joanne?" Joanne snorted at her remark.

"Pshh, maybe if you turned on a light I wouldn't go around crunching your toes." Joanne went over to retrieve her laptop and made her way back to her room.

Joanne walked into the bedroom and opened the laptop to look at some work that she needed to do while she was here. Unlucky for her, Joanne had already done a month's work in the first week she had been put on rest. Most people might consider this good news, but most people were not Joanne. All this meant for her was that she had nothing to do all day, and had to sit around feeling like a lump on a log. The lawyer really never had time to relax before and now she vowed that she would relax.

The lawyer opened up her start menu and started a game of solitaire. Being as busy as she was today was the first time day that she ever got to finish a game. She thought it was kind of pathetic actually because really, never finishing a game? Come on… When she won the game and all of cards came popping out at her, she was thoroughly amused. _I could get used to this bed rest thing_, Joanne thought to herself. As Joanne started a new game, Maureen waltzed into the bedroom.

"Pookie are you mad at me?" Joanne shook her head as Maureen climbed into the bed with her.

"No. I understand it all. It's hard to have two hormonal women in the same household. But just think, there really cannot be more than a month of this drama left and then we will be home free." Maureen agreed with her.

"Yeah, except then we'll have a screaming little girl around." The couple laughed together as Joanne showed Maureen her new fascination with solitaire. Around three that afternoon, Maureen went to pick up the twins from kindergarten. When she came back with them, their presence was greatly noticed. First thing the two of them did was run into the bedroom and sit on either side of their Momma.

"Momma! How was your day?!" Jaylyn giddily said.

"Sweetie, calm down while you're on the bed. My day was great though, thanks for asking. How was your day?" Jaylyn's smile increased while Jessica tried to slink out of the room.

"_My_ day was great momma. But _Jessie_ got in trouble in art class today." Joanne cleared her throat an called for Jessica.

"Where do you think that you are going Jessica Madison? You can come back here right now thank you very much." Jaylyn sat on the bed smiling, "and you can leave Jaylyn. Remember: you'll only like snitches when you're being a lawyer, not to get your sister in trouble…" Joanne kissed Jaylyn on the head and shooed her out as Jessica shyly walked back into the bedroom.

"So according to Jay, you got into trouble today." Jessica slowly nodded as she contemplated her answer.

"Yes, yes I did momma. But I gots to tell you why first before you punish me okay?" The lawyer tried her hardest not to laugh because while Jessica seemed so serious, she was being a little drama queen just like her mommy.

"Okay Jessica, you tell me before I decide what we are going to do with you." Jessie sighed.

"Okay so we were in art and the teacher said that we were gonna do painting. So even thought she said we couldn't get the pain herself, I went and got mine by myself. It was really high on the shelf so I had to stand on the counter to get it. Then it…well, it sort of dumped out of my hands onto Diana's head." The lawyer tried her hardest not to laugh but she couldn't stifle a small giggle.

It was hard at times to be the disciplinarian of the family. Maureen tried to help out but she loved playing around with the kids too much and was just one of them basically. Maureen was a great mother, don't think otherwise, but she just wasn't out to handle the disciplining. To make matters worse all Joanne had to figure out how to discipline the girls was what her parents did with her. That wasn't the best example of child-rearing though either. Joanne grew up in Maryland and her parents, although very wealthy, still believed in corporal punishment. If she had done what Jessica had just confessed to, it would have been a spanking for sure. But even though the occasional swat was delivered once in a while, Joanne really didn't believe in spankings. So what was she to do now?

"Okay so I know the whole paint on the head thing was a accident so as long as you apologize to Diana and you promise no more climbing, the you are home free; okay?" Jessica climbed on the bed and hugged her mother.

"Thank you Momma! Thanks so much! You're the best. Really, you are."

"Later that night Maureen and Joanne sat talking together on the bed.

"So your day went well Pookie?" Joanne nodded before answering.

"yeah; can you believe that Jessica dropped paint on that poor girl's head?" Maureen giggled.

"Our two girls are an interesting bunch."

"Yep, and we are going to have another one pretty damn—" Maureen looked at Joanne.

"Pookie are you okay? What's wrong?" Joanne grimaced.

"I think…"

"What, what is it?"

"My water broke Honeybear."

"Wait what, it's too early for—"

"Maureen I'm having the baby!"

"Ohmigod! Let's go!"

**A/N: Okay, so I know in my last chapter I said to expect only three more chapters but I don't like what I had planned so I'm going unplanned from now. I think that you can expect at least five more chapters out of this. Review por favor!**


	15. Turn Around

**Turn Around**

It was two in the morning and Maureen and Joanne were rushing around the apartment to hurry and leave to have a baby. Cue panicking music.

"Honeybear, go get the bag, it's in the closet." Maureen frantically ran to go look for it.

"Joanne, it isn't here! Which closet is it in; we have 525,600 closets in this place. Goodness, who needs all these closets!?!" Joanne who was experiencing her first contraction tried to get Maureen to calm down.

"It's…in…the front…closet." Maureen ran to get the bag and brought it to the garage before coming back to get Joanne.

"Okay so are you ready Pookie?"

"Never. Never leave me again during a contraction again."

"I'm sorry Pookie but I had to bring the bag to the—" Joanne, experiencing another contraction, grabbed Maureen's hand, "—_car_." She managed to get out weakly. After approximately two minutes Joanne's contraction was over and Maureen had two broken fingers.

"Honeybear, I'm so sorry! Okay well since you can't drive I'll call Benny to come drive us. I know you don't want me to but he lives the closest to us and we need to get to the hospital ASAP." Maureen tried disagreeing but she knew Joanne was right; they would have to call Benny.

"Fine Pookie call him…but what about the twins? We can't leave two five year olds at home alone!" Joanne tried calming down the diva.

"Don't panic, I called Ms. Epatha earlier this week and we just need to go wake her up and she'll come here to watch them and bring them to the hospital tomorrow morning." Maureen breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay I'll call Benny," she said. The diva dialed her ex-landlord's number and waited for him to pick up.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Benny its Maureen; I need you to bring Joanne and I to the hospital."

"Maureen are you serious, it is 2 am. What is your problem?"

"I know it is two am dip-shit but Joanne is about to have a baby and we need you to get over here now!"

"Okay, okay, calm down I'll be there in seven minutes."

"Joanne says thank you."

"And you don't?" Benny asked.

Maureen snorted, "Pssh, in your dreams Coffin. Bye!" The diva hung up before Benny had a chance to say another word. "He'll be here in five minutes. I'll go get Ms. Epatha and I'll bring the bag out of the car."

Joanne nodded gingerly. It had been ten minutes since her last contraction and she was now literally ripping apart a pillow to contain her pain.

"Yeah, that's good…you go do that…"

After a couple of minutes Maureen was back from the car and Ms. Epatha was settled in the house with her instructions.

"Okay, so I'll just drive them over to the hospital in the morning when the wake up, right?"

"Yes ma'am, just drive them over. Thank you so much for this. Are you sure we can't pay you anything?" Joanne asked.

"Nonsense! This is no problem at all, now go and bring home a baby girl!" The couple quickly said their goodbyes and took the elevator down to where they found Benny on the ground floor.

"So, Miss Joanne is having a baby…and to think I thought you were the man in this relationship." Joanne shot Benny an evil glare.

"Unless you want to end up with broken fingers like Maureen—and I love her—I suggest that you shut the hell up and drive." The landlord was at least smart enough to do that. They made it to the hospital within minutes and Joanne was quickly set up in a room.

"Benny thanks for bringing us here, you can go home if you want…I wouldn't want to keep you away from Muffy," Joanne said.

"No problem Joanne. I think I'm gonna stay here though; I might as well see how this little girl comes out. Plus Allison and I haven't been getting along so well…she moved out." Maureen couldn't help herself and erupted in laughter.

"Well isn't that ten types of unfortunate?"

"Actually it's not that bad, she was starting to piss me off."

"Is it just me Pookie or does it seem like Benny is finally growing some balls?" Joanne laughed at Maureen's joke before Benny interrupted.

"Okay, I deserved that. I'll be in the waiting room if you need me. You want me to call the loft for you?"

"Yeah that would be great and that way Maureen can go get her hand fixed. Thanks Benny!"

"No problem Joanne." Benny went in the waiting room and phoned the rest of the Bohemians while Maureen went and got her fingers re-set. Joanne finally had a moment for some peace and quiet. While the lawyer wasn't really a prayer, she decided that she should have a little talk with the man upstairs. _Hey you_, she said to him, _you know, life is pretty good down here and I'm about to have a little girl. If you could just make sure that she is okay for me, that'd be great. Heck, I might even bring her by a church on Easter!_

A couple minutes later Maureen came back with her fingers in splints.

"Hey Pookie," Maureen said as she kissed Joanne's forehead, "how are you doing?"

"I'm fine Honeybear. I got an epidural while you were gone because I know how much you hate needles. I really can't feel anything right now."

"Aw, you didn't have to do that; I would have stayed in the room for you."

"Well that is sweet but now you don't have to. Hmm, I wonder where that doctor is. He should be here by now to check on the baby." As she finished her sentence a rather frazzled Dr. Thoms-Menzel came in the room followed by four rather boisterous bohemians.

"They say that they are all your family," the doctor stated.

"Yeah they are. Hey wait; where is Mia? Oh gosh you two didn't forget her at the loft did you?"

Roger shook his head, "Nah, we left her with Benny out there…she seemed to enjoy slapping his head so we figured why not?" They all laughed at poor Benny's fate.

"Okay well Joanne lets have a little look at this baby okay? Don't worry, I'm not going under just yet so your friends can stay." The doctor rubbed jelly on Joanne's tummy and looked at the little girl.

"Hmm…this is interesting."

"What?!" the bohemians all demanded in unison.

"Well Joanne it seems that your little girl has been active since our last visit. In fact she has turned around 180˚ and is breech."

Joanne almost fainted as she heard those words.

"Okay so what do we do to make sure that she is alright?"

"Well we can try to turn her manually or we can have an emergency c-section. I suggest the latter but I'll leave you to discuss it with your family members. Just call me when you have made a decision."

When Dr. Thoms-Menzel left the room the silence was so thick it could be cut with a knife.

"So what are we gonna do Pookie?" Maureen asked.

"I don't know Honeybear, I just don't know. Any suggestions guys?"

"Well the doctor said a c-section was the safest route…" Mark said.

"But I really wanted to have a vaginal birth."

"Well," Mimi replied as she tried to comfort the frightened mother, "then just have him turn the baby Jo. It's all up to you."

"But I _do_ want it to be safe…"

Collins interjected Joanne's thought process, "Jo _you_ know what's best for _your_ daughter, sweetie. Do what is right in your heart."

Joanne finally broke down and cried. Why did something have to be wrong with her baby? Didn't she just have a conversation with God to keep her baby safe? All she wanted was for everything to be okay. Maureen went over and held Joanne's head to her breast.

"Pookie whatever you do, this baby will be okay. Don't worry okay, just pick; there is no pressure whatsoever." The couple kissed as Joanne's way of saying thank you to her lover for always being there.

"Okay, I know what I'm going to do. Someone go get the doctor." Roger went to retrieve the doctor.

"So have you made you decision?"

"Yes, Doc we are going to have the c-section."

"That is a very good choice Joanne. Alright, well let's go!"

Joanne and Maureen were rushed out of the room and soon they were in the OR about to deliver a baby.

**A/N: I thought this chapter was mediocre but I hope you all liked it more than I did…Review please!!**


	16. Forever Yours

**Forever Yours**

It all happened so quickly. The doctors pushed Joanne through the hallway at record speed; Maureen ran along side her providing comfort.

"It's all gonna be okay Pookie, she's gonna be fine."

Before she knew it Joanne was on an operating table with an IV in her arm. The doctor performing the surgery explained what was happening to the stressed out lawyer.

"Okay Joanne," she said, "I'm going to make an incision and then you should feel some pulling or pressure.

Joanne was weak from anesthesia and she could only manage a nod.

The cutting began. Then Joanne felt obvious pressure. _This is hell, _she thought. _This is a heck of a lot of pressure. What if they cut her head? Oh my poor baby…Please, just let her be okay. Let it all be okay…_

"It's coming!" the diva shouted.

"Now?" Joanne questioned.

"The baby's coming!"

"How?"

"I see a nose, I see a curl; it's a healthy, perfect, lovely little….girl! Joanne, we have a baby girl!" Tears sprung up from Maureen's eyes.

"Let me see her… Wait, why isn't she crying? Maureen my baby isn't crying!" The nurses quickly showed Joanne the baby and rushed her to the neo-natal department. The baby, in moving around had ingested fluids and needed to have it removed immediately. Tears of sorrow streamed down the lawyer's face.

"Pookie, we have the Best doctors in New York here….I'm sure…" but Maureen couldn't finish her thought because she wasn't sure herself if the baby would be okay. She could never lie to her Pookie.

"Doctor, will she be…?" After the doctor stitched up Joanne and placed her in a wheelchair he answered the question.

"We will go and see right now, but in my opinion she should be fine. The amount of fluid in her lungs was very little, but you have to take into account that she was little as well."

Once again time was flying by too fast for Joanne. The lawyer just wanted to slow things down or start all over if she could. She closed her eyes for the ride to the neo-natal department and began dreaming. For the past few weeks Joanne had been dreaming in color and today was no exception. Today she dreamt in plain old black and white. She was succumbed by the black but the white was struggling to make its way to take over. As soon as the battle had started, it was over. The lawyer looked around and saw a person walking towards her.

"Who's there?" she asked nervously. The figure continued walking towards her.

"I think you know," the figure said as it advanced.

Joanne gasped. "Angel?"

"Honey, what are you doing here? You have a daughter to go see."

"Angel, I'm scared. I don't feel like she's gonna make it. I don't want to see my baby die." Angel walked closer and wiped a tear from Joanne's eyes.

"That little one isn't gonna die. She is gonna be okay sweetie, don't worry. I've had my eye on that feisty little chica and she's not going anywhere any time soon…"

"But Angel…"

"No buts, go back and hold your little girl chica."

"Thank you; for everything." Slowly Angel's figure dissipated and Joanne woke up. She couldn't have been asleep for more than five minutes because they had just reached the nursery when she woke up. Collins, Mark, Mimi, and Roger were standing outside of the glass smiling at all of the babies. _Smiles,_ Joanne thought, _are a good sign. _

"Can we see her?" Maureen asked the doctor.

"Sure, I'll have a nurse get her for you." The doctor went in to have a nurse get baby Jefferson-Johnson for the bohemians.

"So have you chicas picked out a name yet?" Mimi asked. Maureen looked at Joanne.

"You tell 'em Pookie!"

"Okay," tears of Joy filled Joanne's eyes as a nurse came out and handed Joanne her baby girl, "I would like you all to welcome Angela Renee Jefferson Johnson to the family." Joanne looked over at Collins who had tears in his eyes. "Do you like it?" she asked.

Collins smiled through his tears, "I love it," he managed to croak out. Angela started to cry and Joanne tried to calm her down.

"Shhh, its okay my sweet…Momma's here. Everything is gonna be okay." Angela opened her eyes and looked at her Momma. The crying quieted down a little and became whimpers as she stared in wonder at this woman who gave birth to her. Joanne offered the baby to Maureen and she took her.

"Pookie, she looks just like us! We actually made a baby together! Hey there Angela, my little sweet Angel, I'm your Mommy…" Maureen wasn't exaggerating either when she called Angela beautiful. Her skin was a perfect mix between Maureen's pale skin and Joanne's mocha skin. Her eyes were a golden brown color that sparkled in the night. She had thick wavy dark hair which framed her perfect little heart shaped face.

"April 6, 2007. Joanne has just given birth to the beautiful 3 lbs 4 oz Angela Renee. She's a ray of sunshine on our little group." Mark said as he filmed the precious moment.

Collins reached down to let Angela grab his finger and replied, "She's an Angel." Mark continued filming the moment between mother and daughter.

"Angel indeed…" Mimi and Roger said together.

After Joanne fed Angela, the bohemians went back to room where Joanne was staying.

"The doctors say that she has to stay overnight but that she is doing really well."

"Oh Thank Buddha!!!" Maureen exclaimed. The bohemians looked at her and laughed at her new found appreciation of eastern philosophy.

"Ohmigosh! Roger you left Benny out there with Mia! Why didn't you go get him?" Mimi laughed as she went to go and retrieve the probably worn out Benny.

Apparently Ms. Epatha had already dropped off the twins with Benny when she saw Mia sitting with him. So instead of the quiet entrance that was expected, three little girls were bouncing around the room with a tired Benny.

"Where the hell is the baby? I wait outside watching _your_ girls and I don't even get to see the baby?"

"Calm down big boy," Joanne said, "she's in the nursery. We can go see her right now if you would like to."

"I wanna see her momma!" Jaylyn exclaimed.

"Me too momma!" cried out Jessica.

"Ooh, ooh, me free Auntie Jo!" Mia piped in.

"Well then I guess we will have to go see her then won't we?" Joanne asked rhetorically. Maureen helped Joanne into her wheelchair and Collins pushed the diva down the hall to the nursery as they went to go see the baby. When they got there, the nurse got Angela out of her crib and carried her to Joanne.

"Jessica and Jaylyn, this is your baby sister Angela. Mia this is your cousin Angela, and Benny this is…well I guess you can be Uncle Benny now since you are so helpful …and since Muffy sorta left you…so that makes her your niece Angela."

"Aw no, Jo I couldn't…"

"Hey asshole, you are Uncle Benny now. Accept it!" Roger yelled at him.

"Roger, the kids!" Mimi said as she slapped him on the arm.

"But Mimi," he whined, "butthole doesn't sound as cool!" Everyone laughed really hard at Roger's whining.

"Well Joanne, she is very pretty," Benny said as he looked at the baby.

"I'm Jaylyn, your big sister!"

"I'm Jessica…your other big sister. Me and her over there are twins!"

"Look at all of your family Angela. You are going to grow up to be so loved. You have an Auntie Mimi, Uncle Roger, your new big cousin Mia, Uncle Collins, Uncle Mark, and seeing as to how we no longer shun him, and Uncle Benny too. We all love you very much."

"Give her here Pookie, I wanna hold her."

Joanne showed her how to support the baby's head and handed her over to Maureen.

"Pookie, look at her she really is perfect," Maureen whispered. She counted all of the baby's fingers and toes. "It's all there," she said when the inspection was complete, "how are you little one?" Angela started fussing due to the commotion in the room.

"Oh, my god, I made her cry! Here take her, she obviously hates me!"

"Honeybear she does not hate you. She is just new to this world and she's a little frightened. I'll take her this once to feed her but you have to try and calm her next time okay?"

"Okay, I'll try next time," Maureen kissed Angela on the forehead as she handed her back to Joanne. "Go back to Momma now so you can eat-eat."

Collin's groaned, "Not the baby-talk!"

Mark high fived the anarchist. "I know! Don't you hate it when parents do that?"

"Women…what can you sat?" Roger added.

"Erm…we're right here, we can still here you!" Mimi budded in.

"What's that got to do with the price of tea in China?" Collins asked.

"Hey," the diva chimed in, "there are seven of us now. We can beat you guys DOWN!"

Angela looked around at her new and exciting family as they argued with each other and smiled. The filmmaker was the first to notice and zoomed in on her face.

"Hey she smiled!" Benny chuckled and looked at the smiling baby

"Wow, she's pretty advanced…usually smiles don't come until the first week at least… She must have gotten it from Joanne"

"Ha ha Benjamin. If my twins didn't seem to take a liking to you, I would hit you. But I don't want to hurt their feelings…"

Slowly the commotion in the room died down. Later that night the diva was giving Angela a bottle of breast milk so Joanne could try to get some sleep. Maureen handed her to Collins for a while so she could go and freshen up before she tried to get some sleep herself. As soon as her mommy was gone, Angela became fussy.

"Hey, hey, don't cry. Uncle Collins has got you right here. Nothing is gonna happen to you….shhh sweetie."

Angela quieted down and fell asleep with a smile on her face. From that moment on Collins' heart was forever in Angela's little arms.

_Sure as this sky leads to a sky of blue  
__Sure as my heart lead me to be with you  
__Even the gods won't dare to cross this line  
__Where my life is forever yours  
__And you are mine…  
__Once on This Island_


	17. Bringing Home Baby

**Okay chicas(os) this is the last official chapter and then there will be an epilogue. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks to all of you! A special thanks to my faithful readers who commented me every chapter and helped me to be a better writer as well.**

**Bringing Home Baby**

As all of the Bohemians and their kids—minus Maureen and Joanne who were staying overnight with Angela—left the hospital something clicked in Mimi's mind.

"Oh my gosh! We didn't have a baby shower for Joanne! Why didn't we have a baby shower?!" the dancer exclaimed. Benny seemed to get an idea at this.

"It's not too late!" Collins Mark and Roger looked at him like he was crazy, "No guys, I know this is a chick thing and all but wouldn't it be nice for Joanne if she could come home to a baby shower?" The musician chuckled and punched Benny in the arm.

"You just want brownie points man…"Benny seemed to be thinking before he answered.

"Okay yeah…you got me. Let's just nip this now, no use of trying to throw a shower. Come on Mimi, she'll be home tomorrow! People take weeks to do stuff like that." The guys started walking towards Benny's truck leaving Mimi, Mia and the twins standing there dumbstruck. Mimi whispered something to the girls.

"Stop it right there Misters!" the three little girls yelled in unison. Benny, Collins, Mark and Roger turned around and looked at the little women.

"Thank you girls," Mimi said to her partners in crime. "Now boys, we are going to throw Joanne and Maureen a baby shower okay?"

They nodded.

"You three will take the Range Rover and pick up party supplies, okay?"

More nodding.

"Good, and us girls are going to pick up the presents. Any questions?"

Mark raised his hand,

"Yes, Mark?"

"Do we have to buy our own presents or will you be kind enough to put our names on the gifts?"

"Very good question Mark, you three don't have to worry about buying a thing except the decorations… So let's go, this needs to be done by tomorrow morning!" The men of the group went, well, ran to Benny's truck and were out of the hospital garage within seconds.

"Wow mommy, you're good!" Mia exclaimed. Mimi bent down to the girls' level and wrapped her arms around them.

"That, my little friends, is how you handle a boy; got it?" After which they walked to Collins' car to go pick up some presents.

The next morning around 10:30 Joanne, Maureen, and the newest member of the family left the hospital to go home to what they expected would be a nice and quiet apartment.

"Pookie, do you think that she will like her room? It is pink, what if she is a lesbian and doesn't like pink? Pookie we have to change the room color. I can just tell that she won't like pink; look at her, she is not a pink kind of girl." Joanne kept her eyes on the road but reached over to hold Maureen's hand.

Honeybear, I'm sure that she will like it. Plus, if she is a lesbian, a lot of them like pink, including me." Maureen laughed as they pulled into the garage.

"No you don't Pookie!" Joanne smiled.

"Okay you're right, but I bet some lesbians like pink. And besides, who says that she has to be a lesbian? We could have a girly-girl, princess and ponies; I heart boys and cheerleading, kind of girl."

Maureen was getting Angela out of the car. "So we have a slut for a daughter?"

"Honeybear!"

"What?"

"Don't say slu—" Joanne unlocked the door to her apartment and was shocked at what she saw.

"Surprise!" yelled all of the Bohemians. Maureen was flabbergasted.

"Whoa baby! This is hot!"

"Guys, this is amazing!!" the lawyer exclaimed. She tried to find words expressing her excitement but she couldn't.

"Chicas, the boys and we," said the dancer, pointing to the girls, "made this all for you. We realized that we didn't throw you a shower and we _had_ to change that."

Maureen ran into the house and hugged all of them thanking them over and over for their generosity, "DUDE! Do you realize how fricken amazing this is? Look at all this stuff we got for the baby!"

Joanne walked with Angela in her car seat. "You guys," she began, "this is so nice!" Angela woke up and started fussing. Mark, who had never held Angela, offered to help out.

"Can I hold her?" he asked. Maureen, who was getting her out of the seat, looked up at the filmmaker.

"Sure Marky! Okay, so just support her head…good." Mark gingerly held Angela and started rocking her back and forth. Slowly the newborns wails settled down and she seemed content.

"Hey I did it! I made her stop crying!" Mark grinned from ear to ear as the told them about his victory. Then he felt something warm on his shirt.

"Uh I think she just spit-up on you dud," Roger said. Collins laughed at Mark's unfortunate situation.

"Yeah, she really seems to like you!" Mark's face distorted as he handed back Angela to her mothers and went to go change his shirt.

"We have extra shirts in the guest room Mark," Joanne told the filmmaker, laughing.

"Thanks Jo."

Joanne sat down in the midst of all her gifts and looked overwhelmed at what to open first.

"Okay what should I open first?"

"Ooh Momma, open mine!" Jaylyn said.

"No, mine Momma, open mine!" Jessica interjected. Joanne decided that it would be wise for her to stop the fight that was about to unfold between the twins.

"Okay! How about I open Jaylyn's and Mommy opens Jessie's? That way we can each open one of your gifts." The twins seemed happy with that and ran over to get their presents.

"Honeybear put Angela in her bassinet and see if she will sleep for a while so you can come open your daughter's gift for us." The diva walked into the nursery and put down Angela. After ten solid minutes of crying, Angela finally decided that she was tired and tried sleeping instead.

"Whew that girl's got some pipes on her; she cried for 10 minutes straight!"

"Well at least you got her to sleep, Mo. Good job." Collins said.

"Thanks now let's open these presents! What'cha got for me Jessica?" Maureen asked as she scooped Jessica up into her lap. Joanne did the same as she looked forward to seeing Jaylyn's present as well. Of course Jaylyn had to be the first to announce what she bought for her Momma.

"I got you a t-shirt for Angela!" Joanne giggled and looked at the onesie for Angela. It read on the front: I love my Momma! On the back it said: And my Mommy too! Joanne smiled and squeezed Jaylyn.

"Jay, I love it! Thank you sooo much sweets!" Jaylyn wriggled to get free of her momma's grip and went to play with Mia.

"Mommy mine is better! It's a shirt too but it's still better than Jay's. Hurry up and open it!" Maureen opened her package and saw another onesie. This one was blue and read: My mommies could _soo_ beat up yours! All of the bohemians laughed heartily at Jay and Jess' whimsical gifts and soon presents were being thrust at the happy couple.

Around eight that night everyone except Joanne and the kids were more than a little tipsy and so they all decided to just spend the night at the apartment instead of trying to drive back to the loft. Joanne had taken Angela out a while ago and was breast feeding her now do she could try and get the newborn to sleep more than two hours tonight. Angela seemed to bite Joanne and she jumped. She knew that the "we don't bite Momma" conversation would be in the near future. As the lawyer walked around cleaning up various items (shot glasses, dolls, beer bottles, plastic ponies, etc…you know the usual) she realized just how blessed she actually was and was happy. Joanne had everything that she had ever wanted. Family, friends, a perfect wife, and a newborn baby seemed to follow her around. She was truly a lucky woman. The phone rang, interrupting Joanne's thoughts.

"Shit!" she exclaimed, "Please don't wake up, please don't wake up…" The lawyer rushed to pick up the phone.

"Joanne speaking."

"Joanne? It's mom and daddy kitten! We just wanted to wish you well with your new baby. So how is our granddaughter doing?" Joanne was shocked into almost silence.

"Mom, daddy? Since I found out I was pregnant you haven't said a word and now you call to ask how I am?" Joanne's dad tried to calm down the situation.

"Kitten, Mom and I are sorry. Maureen gave us a call a while ago and we feel like we may have been a bit unreasonable."

"A bit? I believe you told me that you wouldn't accept this granddaughter just like you wouldn't accept Jay and Jess. Oh and they are fine thanks for asking! So what do you want? I have to put Angela, my daughter, down to sleep."

"Joanne daddy and I really are sorry!" her mother tried again apologetically, "we just had trouble believing that you could ever really settle down with Maureen but having this baby proved it to us. Could you ever forgive us?"

"Mom, Daddy, I don't know. I'm really upset that you haven't been around during the entire pregnancy. This was really hard, you know?"

"Joanne…no wait, what does Maureen call her dear?" her father asked her mother.

"Uh, Mookie…Bookie…no, Pookie! Thant's it!"

"Yeah, Pookie please forgive us. We made a mistake. We are only human what can you expect?" Joanne had to laugh; her parents must have really wanted her forgiveness if they called her Pookie.

"Well parental units, it seems like you are truly sorry so I guess I can forgive you, just this _once_ though."

"Oh, did you hear that honey? She's forgiving us," her mom said. "Thank goodness, I thought we'd have to bed." The family laughed together for the first time in a while. Now Joanne finally felt as if her life was complete. She had the bohemians, her immediate family, and now back in the picture once again, her parents.

**P.S. A picture of Angela is on my profile…sorry about the size, I couldn't get it any smaller /**


	18. Another New Chapter

**Epilogue: Another New Chapter**

"Joanne!" 12 year old Angela screamed from the top of her lungs. She'd forgot her lacrosse stick and ballet shoes while rushing out of the house to get to school on time.

"Joanne, Momma! I know you're in this house! Come on, open the door; I'm gonna miss my subway!" Joanne opened the door and stared down the preteen.

"Have you lost your mind? Why the hell are you yelling in the hallway at 7:30 in the morning?! You must want me to beat you…that is the _only_ reason why you'd be yelling this early." Angela ignored her mother's ranting as she ran inside to get her things.

"Thanks, Momma," she said kissing Joanne on the cheek, "love you! I'll be home around 4:30 today; I have lacrosse practice and a ballet lesson after school today 'kay?" Joanne smiled and shook her head before kissing Angela on the forehead.

"Have a nice day little one. Be good! I don't want any calls today about you hitting on the boys with your stick again, understood?"

"Mkay, Momma. I gotta go!"

"Angela Renee, am I understood?" Joanne asked with more emphasis.

"Okay, okay, I won't hit people anymore. I get that hitting is bad. I really gotta go now!" The lawyer laughed as she watched her lanky daughter run out of the house to catch her subway and shook her head. She thought that Angela was tough when she was a baby, but nothing compared to her in the preteen years. She walked back into the lay down with her lover Maureen.

"Which one of our darling children was that?"

"Angie. I swear that girl has the hugest diva attitude in the world!" Maureen snuggled close with her wife.

"Well Pookie, just think in six years she'll be off to college."

"Oh my gosh Bear, can you believe it? We are almost done raising our three girls."

"I know it seems surreal. But we won't ever have a shortage of kids running around this house."

"Yeah with Mia, Mark and Lilly's son Mark Jr., the set of twins that Collins adopted, Angel and Christa, and don't forget Benny's love child that he was lucky enough to be able to keep, Ivy, we have a long way to go 'till we are home free."

"I know that's for sure."

Angela was now twelve and the twins were 17. Jessica and Jaylyn were enrolled in a specialized Arts and Sciences high school while Angela went to St. Margaret's Episcopal Intermediate School. All three girls were thriving and their parents were very proud of them. Jessica was at the top of her class in acting and was also the star short-stop on her softball team. Jaylyn had just been invited to spend eight weeks over the summer in Washington D.C. to look up and close at the goings on of the Supreme Court and senate. She was also president of the JSA and was adamant about being the first female president of color. But Angie was by far the most active. Just as Angel had predicted she was always a very active little girl. She'd been doing ballet since she was two and started lacrosse in the first grade. In fall she ran cross country and in winter she ran distance in track. Even for a seventh grader she had a bright future of being a track star. If only she'd stop hitting the boys…

The rest of the day went by quickly and the weekend soon followed.

* * *

"Mom I have a JSA meeting today. It's on Saturday because we are trying to raise funds for the trip in the summer." Jaylyn said early one Saturday morning.

"Um, no. Momma told me to tell you that we are going to Uncle Collin's house today. Sorry but you're gonna be missing this one sweets."

"Are you kidding me? I'm the effing president! Ugh! Does Jessie have to go?"

"Yes, and watch your mouth Jaylyn Michaela. Angela really doesn't need to be picking up anymore bad habits from you girls. She already hits."

"Whatever Maureen," the seventeen year old said, "well can I at least bring my swimsuit if I must attend this shindig? I need to desperately work on my tan."

"Um Jay, you do realize that you're black right?"

"Mommy! Of course I know that, silly, but I always wear socks in the summertime so my feet are like two shades lighter than the rest of my body…tan lines are not cute!"

"Uh yeah, sure. It's your thang, do what you wanna do! I can't tell ya…" Jaylyn groaned.

"Oh gosh, everyone close your ears. The diva is singing again!"

"Tell your sisters to get ready to go. We need to be out of here in an hour." All three girls heard Maureen and looked out of their bedroom door and screamed.

"An hour!? Mommy, Momma hasn't even come home from her errand to braid my hair yet! Not to mention that I have to pick out an outfit and pack a bag to stay at Uncle Collins' tomight!" Angela groaned.

"Angie just have Jess—"

"Um, no, sorry Mommy but I'm about to shower and try to memorize my lines for the new play." Jessica yelled as she ran into the bathroom, turned on the shower, and cranked up her shower radio. Maureen sighed because this was going to be a lot tougher than she anticipated.

"Well ask Jaylyn to braid your hair for you, Angela."

"But Mommy, she braids too tight. Only Momma doesn't hurt me!" the youngest protested as she pouted. Maureen was trying to keep her temper in check, but it was that time of the month and having three girls around testing her patience was _not_ helping.

"Angela Renee Jefferson-Johnson if you and I have to have a talk in my room, you will not be happy. Now go and be a good little girl, pack your bag, and ask Jaylyn to braid your hair. Am I understood?" Angela tried to pout and throw a tantrum but right as she was Joanne walked in from her errand. Even Angela knew better than to mess with Joanne.

"Please tell me that you aren't doing what I think you are. Do we need to talk young lady?" Angela frowned as she forlornly replied.

"No ma'am."

Joanne nodded. "Then go and do what your mother asked of you please and thank you!" the lawyer responded with a smile. Angela rolled her eyes and stormed into her room to pack her things. Joanne walked over to Maureen and pecked her on the lips.

"Hey babe."

"Hey Pook."

"So are all of our girls getting ready?"

"I highly doubt Angie is but the twins should be all set. Jess is in the shower and Jay is packing her swimsuit I think. She apparently wants to _tan_. Oh and Jaylyn is braiding Angela's hair because I wasn't so sure when you'd be back." The lawyer smirked at her wife being all efficient.

"Well it seems like someone had to wear the Momma pantalones today. How did it feel?" Maureen raised her eyebrows and shook her head at Joanne.

"Never again," she said, "we have some BAD kids. I was seriously about to go Shaft on one of them…drop kick them suckas in the throat. But I didn't and do you want to know why Pookie?"

"Why dear?"

"Because its like the bracelets…you know the ones that say What Would Jesus Do? But I replaced it with Pookie, and I figured that you wouldn't drop kick our kids in the throat."

"I think that you are right my dear," Joanne said as she kissed Maureen. Then Angela and Jaylyn started screaming at each other. Was this day never to calm down?

Angie: "Ahh! Tell her to stop hurting me!"

Jaylyn: "Bitch I can braid tighter! If you calm down and stop moving so much, I wouldn't be hurting you!"

"Momma! Tell her to stop hurting me!"

"Tell this little monster to stop moving so much!" The couple glanced at each other.

"Should we let them dispose of each other? It'd be like watching Discovery Channel!" exclaimed the diva with an excited look on her face. Joanne grinned.

"That would be cool…but no; we'll never get to Collins' house on time if we let them kill each other so I guess we should break it up." Maureen pouted.

"Aw Pookie you are no fun!" But still she diligently walked into Jessica's room to break up the fight.

"Drop the comb and nobody gets hurt!" the diva yelled stunning the girls into silence.

"What is the problem?" the lawyer questioned her daughters, "and one at a time!"

"I'm the oldest," Jay replied, "so I'm going first. This is what happened: Angela, the beloved love child (what were you two thinking!), will not sit still and I can't braid her hair when she keeps moving. If she ever sat still them maybe I might just try and not braid so tight!" Jaylyn paused and breathed a sigh of relief, "phew, that felt good!"

"Okay," Jo said, "your turn Angela."

Angela turned on the water-works and made the most hideous crying face ever. "Momma," she said as she went to go sit on Joanne's lap, "she's always hurting me. I want you to do it; you are the nicer one! Plus, she called me a bitch!" Maureen and Joanne looked at each other and tried to not to laugh. One thing that the couple tried to do was make sure that their children didn't have potty-mouths. But Angela just said bitch freely, like she would say thank you, so…you see how that went. Joanne spoke up first.

"Okay, Angela stop crying sweetie and try sitting still for you sister please. And Jaylyn, come on, apologize. We do not call our sisters the b-word…hello?? Now I want you two ready in twenty minutes okay? Speaking of the devil, where is your sister?"

Angie dried her tears and pointed to the twins' bathroom where the music was blaring.

_Take a look at my girlfriend_

_She's the only one I got_

_Ba da da da_

_Not much of a girlfriend_

_I never seem to get a lot_

_Ba da da da_

Maureen perked up, "I got this one," she said. The diva went into the utility room and shut off the hot water. 3…2…1…

"AHHHH! Maureen! Mommy why would you do that!" said a shivering Jessica as she jumped out of the shower stark naked and soaking wet. Her family looked at her standing there shivering and they lost it. Every one of them laughed a hearty gut wrenching laugh that made tears come.

"You guys are sick! This isn't funny. I was enjoying a hot shower while jamming to some Gym Class Heroes and you turn off the water. Real mature you guys!" even though she was a little upset she couldn't help laughing with her family. "I'll be ready in twenty, goodness!"

Sure enough in twenty minutes they were all ready to take the twenty minute drive to Collins' new house. After he adopted his twins Angel and Christa, Collins had opted for the suburbs instead of the city and now he lived in a nice split level ranch with a pool in the back. But just because he lived in suburbia it didn't stop Collins from being himself. He was known around the neighborhood for putting up quite large signs on various lawns with sayings such as: AIDS is on your street. What are _you_ gonna do about it?

"Hey mom, how old is Angel? He's kind of cute." Maureen looked back at her daughter.

"Since when do you like boys?" Angela blushed as the twins teased her.

"Angela and Angel sittin' in a tree… K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Aren't you two supposed to be older than me? And plus I don't like him, I just think he's sort of cute."

"Yeah okay, sure Angie. I think he's a year older than you so that would make him and Christa thirteen. Mark Jr. seven now, Mia is fifteen, and Ivy is what three now?" Joanne thought about it before answering.

"Yeah, she's three now." Immediately after, they pulled into the driveway, "Okay girls, we're here! Behave yourselves please…and have fun!" The girls ran through the house to get into the pool. Their parents slowly followed them.

"Chicas!" Mimi said as she saw Maureen and Joanne walk into the house.

"Hey Mimi; Roger. Where's everyone else?" Roger jerked his thumb towards the pool.

"We seem to be the only luck parents whose children are old enough to be in a pool unsupervised. Everyone else is watching their young." Maureen laughed.

"Yeah, we are pretty lucky." The four of them walked out of the house into the backyard where everyone else was. They went over to say hi to Mark and Lilly, his wife (yes, Mark finally got a woman!) and Benny and his newest girlfriend before sitting down next to Collins.

"So are you high or just crazy for having all of these kids over here at one time?" Joanne asked.

"A little of both I believe. But you know that I love our youth Jo. But that sleepover idea, I don't know what I was thinking then…that one is just crazy."

"Well if its too much Angie can come home with the older girls. I'm sure they will mind but she won't care. Besides, she was being rude to her Mommy this morning."

"Not my Angela, she is never rude!" the anarchist said laughing. "Angela, come here for a sec." Angela walked out of the pool over to her favorite Uncle.

"Yeah?"

"I love your hair sweetie, who did it?"

"Jaylyn did it, and I didn't even cry once Uncle Collins."

"Well that was very nice of her wasn't it?" Jaylyn nodded. "Well your mean old momma and mommy told me that you were rude this morning. They're just kidding with me right?" Jaylyn shifted back and forth.

"Well I wasn't being rude, sir, but I wasn't listening all the way. But I said sorry right Mommy!?" Maureen laughed.

"Yes you did Angela, just like a good girl should…"

"Can I go swimming again?" she asked.

"Go ahead," Collins said laughing.

"She's a sweetie…" the couple looked at each other and laughed.

"Yeah and a piranha is soft and cuddly," the diva responded.

"Whatever Mo. But are you two sure that you want to take the older girls with you?" Maureen nodded.

"Yeah it's really no problem As long as they don't bust in on me and Pookie doing the nasty, I'm cool!" Joanne shook her head and blushed.

"I still cannot believe that she still is a little freak-a-leak."

"Yeah well sometimes, Pookie you just cannot try and change things."

"But some things," Joanne noted looking at all of the happy kids in the pool, "are worth it."

* * *

"Alright girls, it's midnight now. I don't really care what you do but I just don't want to hear it okay?" Maureen walked back into her room to snuggle with Joanne. 

"They should be asleep _any_time now Pookie." Joanne snaked her arms around Maureen as they rested together.

"Mmhmm, I highly doubt that but okay," Joanne was interrupted by the sound of Christa, Mia, and the twins laughing together, "see what I mean?"

"Yeah well we can't force anything with them…Pookie?"

"Hmm?" Joanne was slowly falling asleep.

"I've been thinking…"

"No, no more kids Maureen."

"Oh gosh, I know, I was just thinking about how our chapter of raising kids is almost over…" Joanne sat up and rested her head on her forearm.

"You're right Honeybear, but we can always start a new chapter. Like, come on we can skydive or something!" Maureen seemed to contemplate the idea of a new chapter in her life and kissed Joanne with extreme force.

"What was that for?"

"_Another_ new chapter!"

**THE END**

**Wow, this was a really long chapter but I had to end it with a bang! Thanks again for reading my very first fanfic. I really, really, hope that you all enjoyed it!!!**

**Twisties**


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